To The East
by ucsbdad
Summary: Lord and Lady Castle leave Renaissance Italy for the mysterious, and dangerous, East. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

To the East

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

**Authors Note: The first three parts of the adventures of Richard Castle and Katherine Beckett in Renaissance Italy are in After A Deadly Affair, chapters 989 to 1004, 1005 to 1020 and 1026 to 1040. But I decided to write this as a standalone story. **

It is the year of Our Lord 1365…..

"We're all dead." She said.

Lord Richard Castle put his arm around his wife's trim waist, finding the unaccustomed hardness of a chain mail hauberk rather than the silk that normally covered her soft skin. "You should leave. A company of archers on fast horses, with remounts could…."

"Never." She said with finality. "I will never leave you. Our fates are entwined, Richard. Even death will not stop my love of you."

Lady Katherine Castle was a beautiful woman, born of an English father and an Italian mother. In other circumstances she might have led an entirely peaceful and relatively conventional life, but that was not her fate. A French adventurer name de Braquenne and his army had taken her home city of Pola in the Duchy of Istria, and noting the beauty of both mother and daughter had had them brought to him. He had raped both women. Kate managed to escape, but her mother was murdered by de Braquenne. Kate had hidden in the woods of Istria for months waiting for a chance for revenge.

Her revenge came with the help of a humble captain of English archers named Richard Castle. Castle had come to Italy to serve as a mercenary to whoever could pay him and his men. A peace had been declared between England and France, throwing many men, who had no trade but that of soldier, out of work. Castle had been attracted to the lovely English lass at once. Kate had taken a bit more convincing.

Castle had held off a pirate attack on Pola, then led an army to the south to punish pirates who had infested the coasts of Dalmatia since time immemorial. He had defeated a band of pirates led by a man called Demming who had also lusted after Kate. Kate had had Demming burned at the stake.

Then he had served in the war against de Braquenne. De Braquenne had been defeated and Kate had had her revenge, killing the man who had murdered her mother and dishonored them both.

For his services, Rodrigo, Duke of Istria, had first knighted Richard, then made him Lord of Pola and commander of Istria's army of the southern marches. Lord Castle's army, the Company of St. Katherine of England, numbered between ten and fifteen thousand men, depending on whether they were on campaign or not.

"Excuse me." Said a feminine voice. A slender redhead in a long black cloak pushed her way between Lord Castle and Duke Rodrigo.

"Shouldn't you be wearing armor, Alexis?" Castle said, only half teasing.

"There's enough armor already here, Lord Richard. I have my own weapons." Lady Alexis Beckett opened her cloak to show that she wore only a diaphanous red silk gown. It was so sheer that Castle could easily see her stiff pink nipples and her shaved nether regions.

"Put your cloak on, for God's sake." Castle said, scandalized.

"Of course, Lord Castle." Alexis said, very slowly closing her cloak.

Alexis had been born in an English army camp. No one was quite sure who her father was and her mother had died young. Alexis had very little memory of the woman. She had been raised by Martha, her grandmother. Martha was a thief, a cheat and a whore and she had taught Alexis everything she knew and then Alexis had learned more. No one knew why Alexis had attached herself to the Castles with such iron clad devotion, but the young redhead had become the very efficient head of Lord Castle's intelligence service. She had spies all through Italy and the Balkans and as far afield as Egypt, Andalusia and the Byzantine Empire.

With Lady Kate's assistance, Alexis also ran the Castle's finances, investing cannily in trading ventures that made both short voyages across the Adriatic Sea to Italy and as far as the lands beyond the Pillars of Hercules and onto Africa to the south and the Baltic in the north. She also made investments that it was perhaps better that Lord Castle knew nothing about.

The men of Castle's army had begun referring to her as Lady Alexis and Duke Rodrigo had given her the formal title when he raised Castle to a lordship. Alexis had gone undercover as the flighty, not very bright but very rich cousin of Lady Kate, and so adopted the surname, Beckett. Never having had a proper family name, or rather having had hundreds, depending on her needs at the time, she had kept the name Beckett and continued to act as Lady Kate's cousin. In fact, she regarded Kate as a combination mother, sister and best friend, the more so since Martha had died the year before, worn out by her hard life.

"How many of them are there, Richard?" Duke Rodrigo asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Your Grace, the Turks have some two hundred and fifty war galleys and transports that carry over fifty thousand troops. They've been destroying every pirate base from the Peloponnesus to here, and now they're here."

The Duke sighed. "I had hoped that by bringing my army south to join with yours that we could stop the damned Turks. It seems that was a vain hope."

Sir James Walden, who commanded the English portion of Duke Rodrigo's army nodded. "We can but die well."

"There's a small boat setting off from what I take to be the Turk's flagship." Said Huw of Llandovery, a sturdy Welsh archer who had become Richard's second in command now that Will Fox, Castle's one time mentor, was too old and too ill to take the field.

"Why would they send someone to talk to us?" Kate wondered.

"They may want to tell us that they'll spare our lives if we convert to Islam. We'd be slaves of course." Castle replied.

Kate tapped the dagger that hung on her right hip, balancing the sword on her left. "I'll not spend the rest of my life in a Turkish harem."

"Kate…"Castle began.

"One man is getting off the boat." Huw interrupted. "He's headed for the sea gate. He's well dressed. He must be important."

The man reached the sea gate and looked up at the people clustered on the top of the city wall. "Richard, how have you been, my friend? And your dear lady? Is Kate now clad in armor? Is this the latest fashion for Christian ladies? I do not approve. And Duke Rodrigo, will you not let me in so we can talk?"

Alexis leaned over the wall, allowing the top of her cloak to fall open. "Hamid ibn Jinnah, is that you?" She turned to Duke Rodrigo. "Your Grace, you should let him in. He's been a friend to Istria and to all of us. We need to hear what he has to say."

Hamid ibn Jinnah was a powerful man among the Turks, but he had been captured by pirates and chained to an oar as a galley slave. When rescued by Castle he had agreed to help Castle. He had his own reasons for wanting revenge against the pirates. His two sons who had been captured with him had been too young to pull and oar, so they had been castrated and killed. He eventually got his revenge, and rose to command the small but powerful Istrian navy. Eventually, he had returned to the service of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

Duke Rodrigo looked down at Hamid ibn Jinnah, then at the massed Turkish fleet. He leaned over the wall. "I'll be right down, Hamid."

Rodrigo ordered the drawbridge dropped and the portcullis opened. Hamid strode through confidently, as if he'd come for meeting with friends and not at the head of an armada. "Duke Rodrigo. The last few years have been good to you. The power and influence of Istria has never been higher and I understand you now have a son?"

"Yes, Carlo is one year old. And how is your family, Lord Hamid?" Rodrigo asked, somewhat stiffly.

"As the Prophet allows me four wives, I'm blessed with five sons now. The oldest is nine and will become a page at the court of my master, the Sultan."

Hamid turned to Castle. "And my friend, I understand you have a daughter? But I am sure your lovely wife will gift you with many fine, strong sons."

"I'm sure she will, Hamid. But we are as happy with Lily as we could be with a son."

He then turned to Kate and kissed her hand in the European manner. "You are even more lovely than ever, Lady Castle. But do Christian women now wear armor?"

Kate smiled. "We had heard rumors that a large unfriendly fleet and army was nearby. Obviously, the rumors were false."

Hamid laughed. "With a large unfriendly fleet and army on one side and Lady Kate on the other, any sensible man would place a wager on Lady Kate."

Hamid's eyes went to Lady Alexis. "Lady Alexis, how did you not know that it was merely your old friend Hamid coming to visit, with the so many eyes you have everywhere."

She smiled and allowed her cloak to fall open. "I have more than one talent, Lord Hamid." She said suggestively. "I had hoped to purchase a squadron or two of your galleys for Istria."

"And you would have probably gotten a very good deal from me."

He turned back to Rodrigo. "And now, dear Duke Rodrigo, should we adjourn to the Ducal Palace and discuss things?"

As they walked to the palace, Hamid smiled and called to people he had known from his time living and working in Pola. He suggested to one and all that they would soon be happier, wealthier and more peaceable than ever before.

Before they got to the palace, Duke Rodrigo spoke to Alexis. "It would be best if you returned to the Castle's home and changed your gown, Lady Alexis. What you have on is not suitable for court attire."

"Oh, I keep many gowns placed conveniently around town. There are twelve in the Ducal Palace. I'll just need a second to change, Your Grace."

Alexis sped ahead and was waiting for her friends in the Duke's office, now wearing a blue cotton dress that covered her, but allowed no one to doubt she was a woman. She had had the palace staff bring wine and sweets to the office and had piled pillows in the Turkish fashion throughout the room.

She bowed as Duke Rodrigo and the rest entered. "I hope everything is to your satisfaction, Your Grace."

"I'm sure they are, Lady Alexis."

They all sat on the pillows and Duke Rodrigo played the host, pouring a cup of wine for Hamid and for the ladies and pointing out some choice morsels of food to his Turkish guest.

After a bit of small talk, Rodrigo got down to business. "May I ask why you have come to Istria, Lord Hamid?"

"Why, to ask for your help as an ally, of course." Hamid said, smiling.

"You brought a rather large escort for an ambassador." Castle remarked.

"The Sultan has been troubled with Dalmatian pirates sailing into waters under his control. It seems the fellows have no stomach to go up against the redoubtable Lord Richard Castle and the Company of Saint Katherine of England. And the Istrian Navy. The Sultan asked me to discourage them on my way here."

"You wish to ally yourselves with Istria?" Alexis asked, a slight note of disbelief entering her voice.

Hamid's face became serious. "Have you heard of a man called Timur the Lame, sometimes called Tamerlane by Christians?"


	2. Chapter 2

To the East

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

Alexis nodded. "He's a powerful man, but his realm is in Central Asia, somewhere north of the land of the Hind and west of the lands of the Chin."

"As usual, Lady Alexis is ahead of us." Rodrigo said. "I've never heard of him."

"And, unusually, Lady Alexis is behind on the latest news. This Timur has overthrown the Sultanate of Delhi in the land of the Hind, adding a rich and powerful realm to his own. He is now attacking the Persians. The Persians fell under the Mongol yoke a century ago and only recently regained their independence. However, they now fight among themselves like little children. When Timur turns his full force on them, they won't last long and then he'll attack us Ottoman Turks."

"Aren't the Mongols now Muslims?" Alexis asked.

Hamid nodded sadly. "However, we seem able to fight our co-religionists as well as you Christians do,"

"This is all so very far away from us, Lord Hamid." Rodrigo said as diplomatically as he could. "Why do you come to Istria for allies."

"First, Duke Rodrigo, because you have under your command a very fine army under a very fine general. Secondly, we don't have a lot of choices. Few Christian kingdoms care to aid a Muslim state. None of them seem to recall how Genghis Khan's armies came close to conquering Europe. They crushed the princes of Russia, drove on into Poland Hungary and Austria, why a small force of Mongols even made it to the Adriatic Sea, not far from here."

"Persia, as I have said is useless. The Mamelukes of Egypt and Syria hope they will be spared if they do nothing. The Byzantines hate us and are weak. The Muslim states on the southern coast of the Mediterranean are weak and concern themselves only with piracy. The Khanate of the Golden Horde is beset with an endless civil war. One Khan after the other rises and attempts to seize power and as soon as one does, three other would-be Khans rise to oppose him. Meanwhile, every Emir and general tries to grab some land and some power for himself."

"Certainly Istria, a mere dukedom, can hardly help the Sultan." Rodrigo said.

Hamid pulled out a map and put it on the table. "Timur, when he comes, can come one of two ways. He can come through Persia and on into what's left of the old Caliphate of Baghdad, but to do so he has to come through the Zagros Mountains. That's where my Sultan will place his army, hopefully ambushing Timur's army in the many mountain passes and destroying him."

"And the other?" Asked Alexis, studying the map and committing it to memory.

"To go to the north and attack us by driving down between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. My master has sufficient troops to cover one, but not both possible places of attack."

"I still don't see what you need us for." Castle said.

Hamid put his finger down on the map. "Here is what is called the Caucasus, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. It is a mountainous land, and, oddly enough, populated by Christians. There are two states there, called the Armenians and the Georgians. They have resisted Muslim armies from the south and the north for centuries now. They are very good fighters and their mountains are full of powerful fortresses. They would be very, very difficult to defeat."

"That seems to solve your problem then." Rodrigo said.

"Only if they do fight. We have information that certain Christian factions in those countries have been contacted by Tamerlane. He is offering a great deal of gold if the Christians will simply retreat to their mountain fortresses and let his army pass peaceably through their lands to attack us Turks. Many of the Christians don't trust Tamerlane not to attack them if he destroys Turkey. Others feel that even if he destroys Turkey, they will remain safe in their mountains as they have for centuries as Muslims conquer those around them."

"And you need us to…?" Castle had an idea of what Hamid was going to suggest, but asked anyway.

"If a powerful Christian army, with a great deal of Turkish gold, were to arrive and offer to fight against Tamerlane, the problem would be solved. And if Tamerlane approaches Turkey through Persia, the Christians, including, the Istrian Christians, would get a good amount of gold with no fighting."

Rick smiled at Hamid. "Did you have any particular Christian army in mind?"

"Yours, of course. An army with lots of English longbowmen and some crossbowmen, along with some knights and men-at-arms who'll actually fight on foot, and some spearmen and light horsemen, will make a perfect army for confronting Tamerlane's troops in the narrow mountain valley of the Caucasus"

"You're sure?" Alexis asked, who never accepted anyone's statements at face value.

Hamid nodded at the redhead and smiled. "I really have missed that brain of yours, Lady Alexis."

Alexis smiled back. "Just my brain?" She somehow managed to lean in such a way as to reveal a great deal of her legs.

"Let's just say I missed you, Lady Alexis." Then Hamid became serious. "The Mongols have always been lightly armed and armored horse archers. The few wealthy noblemen they had provided more heavily armored cavalry, but originally Mongol armies in the days of old Temujin, or Ghengis Khan as he was later known, were armies composed of nothing but horsemen. When he conquered the land of the Chin, he discovered the use of infantry and of siege engines and engineers. Tamerlane doesn't control the land of the Chin and his armies are mostly horse archers and some heavy cavalry. The infantry they have are foreign conscripts, poorly trained, poorly armed and poorly led. His siege train is non-existant.

Duke Rodrigo nodded. "You have done great damage to the pirates to the south of us, but many have been merely driven inland. How am I to protect my southern borders if Lord Castle and the Company of Saint Katherine's of England depart?"

"I submit that with the damage we have done to the pirates that Istria no longer needs an army the size and quality of Lord Castle's. The Sultan has plenty of gold, especially if his realm is at stake. A substantial company of English under the command of Sir Michael Poole has arrived from France and is now in northern Italy. I invited him to come to Istria, I hope I haven't been too forward? Sir Michael has some 2500 troops and I asked that if he should run across any good English bowmen or other good men, to bring them along. I paid them with my master's gold, of course."

Sir James Walden nodded, "I know Sir Michael. He's a very good commander. He once led a chevauchee through France to within ten leagues of Paris. He twice bluffed a larger French army into retreating and later destroyed three smaller French armies."

"Twenty-five hundred men isn't a lot." Alexis said.

Hamid smiled at her. "Certainly, Lady Alexis knows there are many companies of English soldiers about since the war with France stopped. And I'd be willing to bet that Lady Alexis could contact them more easily than I could and have them on their way to Istria quite soon."

She laughed. "I think a force of five or six thousand could hold the south of Istria from any pirates who've survived Lord Hamid's attacks. How soon would they be needed?"

"Once we have decided to accept Lord Hamid's offer and not before." Said Duke Rodrigo. He stared seriously at both Hamid and Alexis. "And not before. There is much still to discuss."

Lady Katherine looked at the map spread before them. "For instance, how to get to this Caucasus. Going east we'd have to travel through Hungary, Wallachia, Moldavia, and I don't know what's beyond them. They're unlikely to welcome a foreign army. If we go more southernly, we're in Ottoman Turk territory. Even with the Sultan's permission, some locals will try to raid us and deny us food and other supplies."

"But you'll go by sea." Said Hamid brightly.

"By sea?" Duke Rodrigo shook his head. "All of the Istrian Navy and merchant fleet together couldn't carry Lord Castle's army to the Caucasus. And our economy would collapse if the merchant fleet were gone for so long. And with no fleet, our enemies, the Venetians would certainly attack. Can your fleet carry us?"

"Regrettably not. I have to take the soldiers I have on board back to the Sultan, and there isn't enough room left on my ships to carry even one company of English archers. But, I'm sure our friends the Venetians will be happy to carry you."

"The Venetians?" Rodrigo gasped, shocked. "Lord Hamid, they are our enemies. Should a good portion of my armies leave Istria, they would attack at once."

"The Venetians have no permanent enemies or friends, just their own self interest. And I believe I have a plan that will keep the Venetians from turning on you as soon as Lord Castle and his army are gone. And you will find that the Venetians like gold as much as anyone else."

"Then what is your plan?" Alexis asked.

When Hamid explained it to them, no one thought it was a perfect plan, but it was one that might work. Duke Rodrigo didn't particularly like the plan, but as a ruler who always had to hunt for money to pay his troops so he could keep his enemies at bay, he liked the amount of gold Istria would get. He also liked the idea of having another army of Englishmen in his service. He hoped he could convince the Turks to subsidize their pay even after Lord Castle returned.

Discussions about the details of the alliance lasted for several days.

The Doge of Venice was shocked to find a large, powerful Turkish fleet and army arriving at his doorstep. And if he was shocked, most of the people of Venice were terrified.

"Lord Hamid wants what?" The Doge demanded of the soldier who had gone out to meet the fleet now riding at anchor off the Serene Republic. The Doge's bald head and his long, wispy white beard did not disguise the fact that he was quite old and had many physical problems. His sumptuous brocaded silk robes disguised his bent left leg, at least when he was sitting. However, neither his age nor infirmities had dampened the rage and hatred for everyone and everything that had ever defied him. Chief among those were the Istrians and the Turks.

"An audience with you, sir. He says he's here as an emissary from the Sultan himself."

"This must be some sort of subterfuge." The Doge insisted. "He wishes to lull us into a false sense of security and then destroy us."

"Perhaps not, uncle." Said Pietro Dandalo, Lord of Rimini. "When I was held by the Istrians after my capture I got to know many of them quite well, including Hamid ibn Jinnah. I think we should hear what he has to say."

'Then you can go out to their fleet and find out what they want." The Doge bellowed. "Now get out of my sight and go see what your _friends_ want."

As he was rowed to the Turkish flagship, Pietro was not at all sure that he had made a wise decision in speaking to his uncle. He would be one man and would be among thousands who had killed many Venetians. However, when he approached the quarterdeck, he saw not only Lord Hamid, but Duke Rodrigo, Lord and Lady Castle, Sir James Walden, who commanded the English troops of the Duke's main army, Don Federico Podesta, the Duke's half brother, and Lady Alexis Castle. Lady Alexis smiled at Pietro and he smiled back. He knew that the redhead was as mercenary a woman as ever walked the earth, but some of the things she could do in bed….

"Come, Pietro, my friend, sit with us." Called Lord Hamid. "Allow me to explain to you how I will make Venice and Pietro Dandalo, Lord of Rimini, quite rich."


	3. Chapter 3

To the East

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

Lady Alexis wiggled over and patted the place beside her. Pietro sat next to her.

"Some wine and a bit to eat for our guests. And for us as well." Roared Hamid.

There followed some small talk about many things before they got down to business. When Hamid made his proposal, Pietro was quite shocked. But he could see money in it.

"One thing, Pietro." Lord Castle said. "I don't really understand the government of Venice. The Doge is in charge, is he not, but…" Castle stopped.

"The Doge, or Duke, as the English would call him is elected by the Senate, well, it's a bit more complex than that, but for sake of argument, he's elected for life by Senators, although Doges have been known to be deposed or even assassinated. There is also the Council of Ten, consisting of ten Senators who run the day to day business of the Serene Republic of Venice. Such things as the navy, the arsenal, finances, and so forth. The Doge is on top, but he has to remember those under him are also very powerful."

Once back facing his uncle, Pietro was a bit more worried about the Doge's reaction than he had been with Hamid telling him what a great opportunity this was as Lady Alexis stroked his thigh. But he told his uncle everything. His reaction was predictable.

"Have you gone completely mad?" The Doge bellowed.

"I am merely pointing out what I was told by Lord Hamid and the others. And indicating those parts they thought would be beneficial to Venice." Pietro replied moderately.

"A peace treaty with the thrice damned Istrians? Guaranteed by the Pope? After what they did to us?"

"They have cost us a great deal of money to pay for the armies we sent against Istria, not to mention the money sent to the pirates to attack Istrian ships and leave ours alone. Between the Istrians and what Lord Hamid has done in the past few months there are hardly enough pirates to bother paying. All of this money has had to have been raised either by taxes or by loans. We have little enough money with which to repay the loans and neither the Senate, nor the Council of Ten, are hardly in a mood to try to raise more taxes."

"The Senate! The Council of Ten!" The Doge shrieked. "A crowd of buffoons. Oh, If I only had the power to rule by myself without those penny pinching, empty headed incompetents constantly interfering. The King of France! Now that's how a country should be run. The French King has no gang of fools to deal with."

Pietro cleared his throat. "Rather he has the English to deal with. Since his defeat at Poitiers some years ago, King Jean II of France has been a prisoner of the English and has had to raise an enormous ransom and give half of his country to the English King. Perhaps he's not the best person for a Doge to emulate. And we have word that he has died in England. Who knows what will happen to France now."

"The English." Doge Dandalo screamed. This was a subject that really enraged him. "What kind of people would allow a horde of damned peasants armed with sticks to defeat the flower of Christendom's chivalry? The whole lot are mad. God will punish them! Yes, He will."

"And yet you've tried to hire English archers for our own armies, haven't you, Uncle?"

The Doge glared at Pietro and changed the subject. "And we're to transport the bloody Istrian Army to the Black Sea and wait there while they fight? And then take them safely home?"

"Ánd, we'll be paid in gold for that. It would go along way to paying off our debts. The Senate and the…"

The Doge hurled a golden cup at his nephew. A servant rushed to pick it up, and discovering the lip of the cup was bent, took it to a roomful of artisans whose sole job it was to repair anything damaged by the Doge in his rages. They always had plenty to do.

'The Senate! I'll take care of the damned Senate." The Doge then tromped away to his private quarters.

Pietro sighed. The Doge was owed a lot of favors by the rich and powerful in Venice. And a lot of money. And he had an excellent intelligence network that kept him abreast of the activities of the members of the Senate and the Council of Ten.

However, the Doge of Venice was not the only one to have an excellent intelligence service.

Lady Alexis welcomed Senator Jacopo Bellini to the boudoir of the palazzo she had rented in Venice. "Welcome, Senator Bellini." She said, bowing low and allowing the Senator to see most of her breasts.

The Senator was not impressed. He no longer believed that she was some wealthy offspring of an aristocratic English family. Although the terms "aristocratic" and "English" hardly merited being used together in his opinion. The English were nothing but a gang of jumped up savages. The redhead herself was doubtlessly, as he had heard, nothing but a low class whore. He looked forward to using her as God intended women to be used by men. Especially since his favorite whore was still recovering from the beating he gave her when last he used her.

He knew that there were rumors that the redhead was practiced in the black arts. Accordingly, he had taken precautions. He had heard Mass and given his confession. In addition. He had rented the knuckle bone of Saint Mark himself. Certainly, no Satanic practices could succeed with so holy a relic on his person.

As Alexis sat next to him, he reached over and pinched her nipple. Hard.

Alexis continued to smile. "I'm sure we will be great friends, Jacopo." She teased, running her hand up his thigh. "Oh, I almost forgot. Didn't you have a ship called the _Celere_? A fast, large, powerful merchant vessel trading with the East?"

Bellini shrugged. "I did. But she was sunk in a storm off Cyprus some two years ago. The ship and the entire crew were lost."

"She was carrying a cargo of marble, was she not?"

Bellini frowned. The redhead knew entirely too much about his business. But she couldn't know everything. Could she? "That is correct. I owned only a third of the cargo, the rest by other merchants."

"That's very odd. As you can see, "Alexis handed him a piece of paper, "I have here a letter from its former Captain, Vincenzo Piscatelli. He states that the ship carried spices and silks, and that at your orders, he put into Alexandria and sold the ship and its cargo to a merchant from Venice's great enemy and rival, Genoa. You made a great deal of money from that sale. He also states that you have had some very…interesting dealings with Genoa in the past." Alexis took the paper from Bellini's nerveless hand. "You were paid insurance for your ship and your third of cargo, were you not? But your business partners only received insurance for some marble, not the far more valuable silks and spices she ship actually held. They'll all be quite angry with you. Not to mention how the Doge will feel if he were to find out about your dealings with Genoa."

Bellini began sweating. He could already feel the headsman's axe on his neck.

Alexis ran her hand further up his thigh. Then she squeezed his balls. Hard. "You really should have hired more competent assassins to take care of Captain Piscatelli and his crew. The good captain and most of his crew are safe in Istria. They, too, are very unhappy with you."

Alexis smiled and pulled her hand back. "But fortunately, we're friends, are we not? And friends help friends, do they not? I won't do anything about this problem with the _Celere_, and you will vote in the Senate to accept Lord Hamid's generous offer."

Bellini nodded dumbly.

'You may go." Alexis said coldly.

Not all of Alexis' dealings were as confrontational as that, however.

Alexis stretched and yawned after her brief nap on her large and very comfortable bed. She reached over and stroked the soft, blonde pubic hair of her bedmate.

"My husband is an idiot." The woman said, opening her eyes.

"Many women think that of their husbands."

The blonde shook her head vigorously, causing her large bare breasts to bounce entrancingly. "No, I mean he really is not all right in the head. Papa Petacci thought he was getting away with something by marrying his dimwitted son to me. But then his four other sons and one daughter died of the fever, with no children. So now Papa Petacci is sick and dying and I have his only remaining son and our little boy, Julio. "She quickly crossed herself. "Julio is quite a bright little boy. And he does what mama tells him to. As does my husband, Bruno."

Alexis thought that Clara Petacci was spoiled and petty, the result of a doting parent and a dull husband. But Alexis had had little trouble convincing her to have her husband vote for the offer Lord Hamid had made.

"I like the idea of sending so much of Venice's merchant fleet and navy off to the middle of nowhere. No matter how rich and powerful I am, those shipowners and admirals see me as nothing. A mere woman. Unworthy of their notice except in bed."

"You've been bedded by the wealthy of Venice?" Alexis asked.

"I could tell you stories." Clara said with a sultry smile.

"Please do." Alexis asked.

"I will, but first, you must pleasure me again."

Alexis moved between the woman's legs, hoping that the scribe hidden behind a false wall would take down whatever Clara said.

Of course, Alexis was not the only one to try to change the opinions of the Venetian Senators.

"Welcome Senator Colonna." Hamid said. "Please, sit. Relax. Partake of my wine. I believe you'll find it's an excellent vintage."

Senator Colonna did sit, but did not relax. He did find the wine to be of an exceptional vintage. "Lord Hamid, you are wasting your time with me. I have no intention of voting for this preposterous proposal of yours. Peace with Istria? Never. And take an Istrian Army to the ends of the Earth? Again, never. And I am far too wealthy for you to bribe and you cannot blackmail me. All of my peccadillos are too well known. Even my wife knows of my many mistresses and I know of her lovers. Even that Orsini lad."

Hamid smiled. "I do enjoy talking to a man who is comfortable in his own skin, as they say. You remind me of a man I know in Alexandria. His name is Hassan ibn Talib. He, too, is a very wealthy merchant. Why he has friends and commercial contacts all the way down the River Nile into Africa and down the Red Sea as far as the fabled Land of Punt. And he also has contacts all along the coast of North Africa all the way to the Pillars of Hercules and even beyond. And, of course, being a Moslem, he has access to all of the commerce to the east, as far as the Land of the Chin. Why, I believe you know him?"

Colonna was worried that his host seemed to know so much about his business associates, but he maintained his pleasant demeanor. "Why, yes, I do know him. There aren't many merchants of any status around the Mediterranean that I don't either know, or know of."

"You are too modest, Senator Colonna. You have been quite close to him for many years. Why, he's stayed in your home here in Venice many times."

"That is correct." Colonna said shortly.

"In fact, you are as wealthy as he is due to your cooperation, is that not so?" Not waiting for Colonna's reply, Hamid continued. "You trade all over the northern coast of the Mediterranean, the Balkans, to Constantinople and the Black Sea as well. Why you trade as far as the lands covered in snow beyond the Baltic Sea. And through you, Hassan ibn Talib trades as well. As you trade using his connections. I would say your friendship with Hassan ibn Talib is very valuable to you."

"True." Colonna snapped. "So?"

"It seems that when Hassan, a good Moslem in Alexandria, visits Europe, he says he's a Catalan and a good Christian named Cristoforo Llanes. He goes to Mass, he takes Communion and he even eats pork."

"Some subterfuge is needed on occasion in business." Colonna managed to choke out.

Hamid smiled, knowing he now had Colonna. "But if a Christian priest in Alexandria, and the Mamluks, do allow Christians to practice their religion in Egypt, for they are People of the Book, like Muslims and Jews, told the Mamluk government that Hassan worships as a Christian, that would be apostasy, would it not? And the punishment for a Muslim to give up Islam is death. Did you know that?"

"Hassan ibn Talib is a wealthy and powerful man." Colonna said angrily.

"And naturally, he has wealthy and powerful enemies. Including several Egyptian Christian bishops. And others. If Hassan were to be executed and his affairs taken over by his enemies, you would stand to lose a great deal of money, wouldn't you?"

"What do you want?' Colonna said through gritted teeth.

"Nothing more than a favorable vote on my proposal in the Senate. Once that is done, we can forget all about this unfortunate incident."

Colonna stood up, nodded, and left.

Not all of Hamid's dealings were so unpleasant.


	4. Chapter 4

To the East

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

Hamid stood looking at the Torcello Cathedral, said to be the oldest in Venice. A tall, very well dressed man came up and stood with him.

"A beautiful cathedral, is it not?" He asked.

"Very much so. "Hamid replied.

"Not as beautiful as the two hundred thousand gold ducats my banker has advised me that I received."

"Doubtlessly not."

"And do not worry, Lord Hamid. I am an honorable man. Once I am bought, I stay bought."

"Still, it is a beautiful place of worship."

"That it is, but I must be off."

His business concluded. Hamid left as well.

On the day that the Venetian Senate was to debate Lord Hamid's proposal, the Doge was quite certain that his point of view would carry the day. Both Alexis and Hamid were equally sure that Hamid's proposal would be accepted. However, both Lord and Lady Castle were very worried as they had no idea of the machinations that had been going on behind the scenes. Lady Alexis never discussed some of her more carnal activities with the Castles as they tended to worry about her and tried to steer her towards a good and holy life. She loved them all the more because of this, but she had no intention of changing her ways. Besides, the two of them needed her and her unholy ways. God only knew what sort of trouble they would get into without her working to smooth their paths.

Hamid also did not tell his two English friends of what he had done to sway the Venetian Senate. This was because Lord Hamid made it a point not to tell anyone anything more than they absolutely needed to know. Ever.

And so, three people were very surprised when Senator Colonna rose and spoke in glowing terms of how the alliance and treaty would allow Venice to pay off the ruinous debts it had incurred in its wars with Istria, and elsewhere.

The Doge glared at Colonna and began planning his revenge on the Senator. Colonna simply smiled at the Doge. His revenge on the Doge was not only planned, but was starting to unfold.

As Richard and Katherine sat happily watching, one senator after another rose to speak in favor of Lord Hamid's proposal. A few spoke against it, but it quickly became apparent that they were in a minority. By the afternoon, the proposal had been accepted. As the Castles and their friends rose to leave the Senate chambers, Senator Colonna rose.

"I should ask that the non-Venetians among us be excluded for the next item of business."

"What next item of business?" Screamed the Doge. "Aren't you idiots satisfied with having ruined our Serene Republic? What do you want now?"

"We have evidence that our Doge has committed treason against Venice."

The Doge began screaming obscenities until a number of armed and armored soldier appeared and pushed him into his seat and kept him there. More soldiers quickly ushered everyone but the Senators out.

"What was that all about?" Rick asked.

Alexis shook her head. "I have no idea." And she truly didn't.

Hamid shrugged. "Senator Colonna is a very ambitious man. Seeing the Doge on the wrong side of an important issue, perhaps he decided that this was the time to depose the Doge and have himself elected in his place." If Hamid knew anymore than that, he never told anyone.

The next day all of Venice was agog with the news that the old Doge had been deposed, stripped of all of his wealth and banished with all of his family, with the exception of Pietro Dandalo, who Doge Colonna appointed to accompany the Istrian expedition as the official representative of Venice.

Two nights later, a grand ball was held in the Doge's Palace to celebrate the election of the new Doge. Naturally, the Istrian party was invited.

Lady Alexis and Hamid were talking when they were approached by Doge Colonna. Alexis and Hamid bowed to the new Doge.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Doge Colonna." Hamid said with a cheery smile.

"Why, thank you. To some degree I owe my success to you two."

Alexis raised an eyebrow. "And how did we help you, Doge?"

"When it became obvious that Lord Hamid's proposal would be accepted, those of us who had been… convinced by your arguments knew that Dandalo would want revenge. He was the type of man who would lash out at his enemies with no thought for the future. In order to prevent this, it was necessary for us to band together to depose Dandalo. The old fool had sold himself and his office enough times so that we had our choice of things to call treason. And now he is gone."

"How exactly is he gone?" Hamid asked. "In my country he would have been wrapped in a fine, thick carpet and been kicked to death by camels. That way no noble blood would be shed. How do they handle things in Christendom?"

Doge Colonna looked thoughtfully at Hamid. "Kicked to death by camels? How interesting. However, in our case, Dandalo was given Holy Orders and sent to a monastery on a small island just south of here. The monks there are sworn to poverty, chastity, obedience and silence."

"Might not a prisoner escape?" Alexis asked.

"No one ever has." Colonna replied with a cold smile. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have other guests to attend to." He started to walk away, then turned back. "If you are worried that I might renege on our deal, you needn't worry, Lord Hamid. In convincing my fellow Senators to back me, I had to tell them that I was behind your proposal and also approved the peace treaty with Istria. Should I go back on my word, my fellow Senators might feel they had been lied to and that I am not as powerful as I intimated."

As he walked away, Alexis and Hamid exchanged looks.

"I don't trust him." Alexis said.

Hamid nodded. "Not as far as I can throw this palace. On the voyage outward, we'll have Istrian soldiers on every Venetian ship and no Venetian soldiers. But once the army disembarks…."

"We'll need to be very careful." Alexis finished for him.

Finally, the two fleets, Turkish and Venetian were on their way south. They stopped at Pola to let Duke Rodrigo return to his Dukedom and also to examine the army that Sir Michael Poole had brought to Istria. Sir Michael and his captains were waiting at the docks for Duke Rodrigo.

Sir Michael was not a tall man, being a head shorter than Lord Castle, but he was heavily built, easily matching Castle in bulk, all of it was muscle. Sir Michael smiled as the nobles approached, revealing that his front teeth had been knocked out in past battles.

He bowed to the Duke and then to Lord Hamid. "I am glad to hear that your mission has gone well, Your Grace." He then turned to Castle. "And now I see that humble captain Castle is now Lord Castle. Nobility looks good on you, Richard." Seeing the puzzled look on Castle's face, he laughed. "You don't remember me? We were on a chevauchee together with John of Gaunt. T'was a small thing, a quick raid into Gascony. There were hardly a thousand of us, but I was knocked off my horse by a Gascon noble who was about to kill me. You shot the fellow through the vision slit of his helmet. I yelled my thanks to you and tried to find you later, but Gaunt had sent you off somewhere with some mounted archers. And now I can properly thank you for saving my life."

Castle nodded. "I recall the raid and the shot, but I can't recall you, Sir Michael."

"Well, I did have a horse laying on me."

Duke Rodrigo interrupted. "I'm glad you two can reminisce, but what forces have you brought to defend my southern lands?"

"I have a full seven thousand men, of which a third are good English or Welsh archers. I have some nine hundred knights and men at arms, and several hundred local light horse who even now scout the south and the east. There are four hundred crossbowmen and the rest are infantry. My patrols to the north report that there are a few more companies of archers and others coming to Pola. If you will continue your generous support, I hope to add them to my army."

Duke Rodrigo shot a quick look at Hamid who was smiling broadly. "Of course, Sir Michael. The more men I have, the better."

Castle had left a small number of men, and a large number of women and children in Pola. Kate checked the women and children and found them to be well fed and housed. Some had found employment in the city, especially in the arms industry. Kate found one gigantic Irish woman, Meg, by name, at a forge making chain mail. Meg spoke only some Celtic dialect that even Father Ryan had problems with, but it was obvious that Meg was happy with her lot.

The men Castle had left behind were too old, too young or too disabled to follow him on another campaign. Most were unhappy with their lot.

"Lord Castle, "Said Jem of Whitehaven, "I've followed you for many a year. I may be a bit slow now, just a bit, but I know a hundred tricks these young scamps have never heard of. You need me riding with you."

Castle smiled at the man. "Jem, I know your worth from all the battles we've been in, and if I was sure we'd always have a horse for you, you'd ride with me. But you remember what happened in the south when we fought the pirates?"

"Aye, I had to ride in a wagon like I was a damned child."

"You're one of the best men I've ever had serve me, but now it's time for you to rest. And the town militia that we hope will defend Pola's walls could learn a few of those tricks of yours. We have mostly crossbowmen now, but a few lads are familiar with short hunting bows and are trying to master the English warbow. You need to teach your tricks to them. And I expect you to."

Jem smiled. "I'll have the best damned Istrian bowmen ready at your return, Lord Castle."

None of the men he talked to, and he talked to them all, were really happy about staying behind, but they all felt better after Castle had talked to them.

At long last, the fleets and Lord Castle's army were at sea, slowly leaving the port of Pola to the cheers of her people and a few sobs from the women whose men were going to war again.

As they sailed down the coast of Dalmatia, Castle saw that all the villages and towns had been destroyed. There was no sign of life in any of them. Even Spoleto, which had been a wealthy and powerful city lay in ruins.

"What happened to them. Hamid?" He asked.

"My master, the Sultan, told be to punish them for being pirates, and punish them I did. I had all the men killed, but left the women and children alive. However, I cut off the thumbs of all of the male children. They'll not grow up to handle a sword or any other weapon. I thought about castrating the lot them, but the bandits in the hills would just ride down and create a new generation of pirates." Hamid took a long look at Castle. "Richard, you are a very forgiving man, for a soldier. But that might be good in a lord. However, these people have been pirates since men first went to sea and they'll be pirates when you and I are forgotten. Someone will just have to come here in twenty years and repeat the whole process."

"And there will be men to come here in twenty years, won't there?"

Hamid smiled. "Not you and I, my friend. We'll he happily retired to our estates and playing with our grandchildren. Come, let's have a bit of wine and talk of more cheerful things."


	5. Chapter 5

To the East

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

However, several days after passing the Island of Corfu, problems arose.

"Richard, will you come here, please?" Hamid called to his friend.

Castle left his wife with whom he had been enjoying a day of sunshine on the deck of their ship.

"What is it?"

"We have a freshening wind from the west and it's getting darker in the west. Also, the captain and others have noticed sea birds heading for land. He thinks there will be a storm soon. A bad one."

Castle looked around at the blue and cloudless skies above him. "A storm? That seems unlikely. Is he sure?"

Hamid exchanged some words in Turkish with the captain and several other officers.

"They're positive. Remember, Richard, they've sailed these seas for years. They suggest we head for the Gulf of Corinth. Probably Larissos. There's a fine harbor there, although it's part of the damned Frankokratia."

Before Castle could ask any question, Hamid went off to see about changing the course of the two fleets.

"The further I get from England and home, the less I know." Castle said sadly.

Kate took his hand. "I know a bit of the Frankokratia, but I'm sure Alexis can tell is all about it."

There was very little room below decks in a galley, but Alexis had managed to provide a small but well-furnished cabin for Lord and Lady Castle, and one for herself, of course. She was just setting out a small flask of wine and some snacks as the two entered. "I heard you from the deck above. So, you want to know about the Frankokratia? Sit and make yourselves comfortable. It's a long, sad story."

Once the three had a cup of wine in their hands, Alexis began her story. "In the year 1202 Pope Innocent III called for yet another Crusade to take back Jerusalem from the Muslims. The plan was simple, the Crusaders would assemble at Venice, they would pay for Venetian ships to carry them to Egypt, defeat the Egyptians, and then seize the Holy Land. Unfortunately, the Crusade was led by idiots." Lady Alexis managed to leave no doubt in Rick and Kate's mind that if she had been in charge, the Venetians would have carried the Crusaders for free and Jerusalem would have been theirs as a gift.

"When they arrived in Venice, the Crusaders discovered they didn't have the money promised to the Venetians. Naturally, the Venetians refused to take them anyplace. The Crusaders wanted to continue and the Venetians suggested that by way of partial payment, they could take the Catholic city of Zara for the Venetians. Which they did, despite the fact that Zara was under the protection of the Pope, who excommunicated the entire Crusader army. This just made the Crusaders more desperate. They were contacted by a Byzantine prince, Alexios Angelos, who asked the Crusaders to put him on the throne of the Byzantine Empire. Once they did so, he promised them enough gold to pay the Venetians to take them to the Holy Land. No sooner was Emperor Alexios on the throne than he was assassinated. He would pay no money to the Crusaders. So, the Crusaders besieged and then sacked Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. A Crusader, Baldwin of Flanders, was named as the new Emperor and various parts of Greece were divided up between the Crusaders. Several parts of the Empire refused to accept Baldwin as their new Emperor and became independent."

"What happened to the Crusade?" Richard asked.

"Nothing, hardly anyone went to the Holy Land. Most of the Crusaders either now had lands in Greece to rule, the Kingdom of Thessalonica, the Duchy of Athens, the Duchy of the Archipelago, and the Principality of Achaea, or they had enough loot from Constantinople to make them rich. Achaea is where we're bound for."

"But what does Frankokratia mean?" Castle asked.

"Ruled by Franks. Franks, or sometimes Latins, is what Western Europeans are called in the East. The Byzantines recaptured Constantinople in 1261, but they had lost so much wealth that the Byzantine Empire now controls a few thousand square miles of northern Greece and a lesser amount of Anatolia in Asia. The Franks still control much of what they conquered."

"How will we be treated when we land?" Kate asked.

Alexis shrugged. "The Byzantines hate the Venetians and the Franks, but we are far from them. The whole of Frankokratria couldn't put an army and a fleet like this together, so I imagine they'll be quite polite."

A day and a night of hard rowing brought them to Larissos. It was a fine harbor, but they were surprised to find no other ships moored there. They did see people ashore running from them as fast as they could.

Most of the ships were beached and then anchored. The rest were anchored in the harbor.

Shortly after midday, a young man walked to the beached ships. He looked terrified to Hamid who walked out to greet him.

"May the blessings of Allah be with you."

The man managed some sort of a greeting. As he stammered and stuttered, Hamid was joined by the Castles and Lady Alexis.

Finally, the young man got control of his tongue. "I am sent by my lord, Count von Schiller, who holds this land in fief to the Prince of Achaea. He wishes to know why you are here."

Hamid smiled. "I am Lord Hamid ibn Jinnah and I serve the great English Lord, Lord Richard Castle. You have no doubt heard of him."

The man did manage to shake his head.

"You haven't? Why, Lord Richard is one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in England. He has vast estates in England, Wales and Ireland. He also has estates in those parts of France owing fealty King Edward III of England. He also holds some trifling estates in the Duchy of Istria, only some several hundred towns and villages. This is his army and fleet you see."

The young man looked at the massed ships, each packed with soldiers, and seemed about ready to faint.

"Of course, Lord Richard has only peaceful feelings for your lord and for the Prince of Achaea. He humbly asks that your lord accept this small token of his friendship for the use of your fine harbor." Hamid then removed a large bag of gold from beneath his robes and handed it over to the man. "You should hurry along to your lord with that."

He left at once.

"If half of what you said was true, I'd be the most powerful man in Europe." Castle chided his friend.

"I did exaggerate a bit, but rumors pass quickly in these lands. People as far as Constantinople and beyond will know that you are a powerful lord. Which you are, of course."

Castle said no more.

In half an hour a dozen riders came to the beach. Lord Richard looked them over with a soldier's eye and was not impressed by what he saw. The man he took to be their leader was well enough mounted and well armed. and armored as well. His followers were mounted on horses that had not been well fed and he could smell the stink that oozed from sores on the horses' backs. Their riders had rusty weapons and dented, rusty armor. They looked as poorly fed and cared for as their horses.

The man said something that none of them understood, then switched to French which Richard, Kate, Alexis and Hamid all understood.

"Greetings, Lord Castle. I am Count Eric von Schiller, and the County of Larissos is my fief. I welcome you to my lands. And I invite you to my castle for dinner."

Castle was about to answer, but Hamid stepped forward. "My master gladly accepts your offer. I am Hamid ibn Jinnah, vizier, or you might say, chamberlain to Lord Richard's court. His family will accompany him, of course. They are his wife, Lady Katherine, and his wife's cousin, Lady Alexis. He will, of course, bring a small entourage." Hamid stopped and looked thoughtful. "As my lord's entourage might be accounted large in some circles, perhaps we could contribute some food and drink to the feast?"

Count von Schiller smiled in appreciation. "A bit of extra food would be appreciated."

As it turned out, the entourage consisted of Hamid himself, Father Ryan and two companies of archers, numbering two hundred all together, commanded by Huw of Llandovery and one Brian of Cashel, an Irishman who had mastered the English longbow and had risen under Lord Castle's service. In addition, a seemingly endless stream of brawny oarsmen brought food from the holds of the ships. They brought some live chickens and pigs, but mostly they brought salted beef and pork, dried peas and dried apples, as well as bags of flour and spices the like of which hadn't been seen in Larissos in years.

Count von Schiller insisted that Castle and his family and friends ride with him and sent back to his castle for more horses. The poor horses were in even worse condition than the mounts von Schiller's troops rode and Castle, for one, would rather have walked than hurt the poor beasts. But, Hamid whispered that the Count was obviously a poor man doing his best to honor his guests and would probably be insulted if his hospitality was turned down.

The castle was a massive pile and seemed to be in good repair. It had a dry moat and a stout drawbridge and gates. But once inside, things looked different. The inner walls of the castle were lined with wretched hovels that apparently were the quarters of the families of the soldiers, and the servants. They all looked as poorly cared for as the horses.

In the confusion of re-stabling the horses and getting the food to the kitchen, Castle lost track of Alexis, always a bad sign. "Have any of you seen Alexis?"

No one remembered seeing her after they crossed the drawbridge.

"She'll turn up." Kate said. "She always does"

"With her hand found in someone's purse." Castle muttered.

"Little to steal here." Father Ryan said.

The Castle party was shown to their temporary quarters by a ragged young boy. Rick and Kate examined their quarters: Moldy straw on the floor, a straw filled pallet with a ragged blanket on it and a chamber pot that hadn't been emptied since the last occupant left. Kate emptied the chamber pot through the small window and placed it outside of their chambers.

"And I thought our quarters on the ship were bad." She checked the bed. "There are fleas here. I'll not sleep here."

Before Richard could say anything, Lady Alexis returned.

"'I've been talking to a stable boy, although I suppose now, he's a stable _man_." She turned her back to Kate. "Could you brush off the back of my dress? I fear there's a bit of straw there."

Kate did so, commenting, "There's enough straw there to refill my mattress. What were you doing that got so much straw on you?"

"Oh, you want the details." Alexis said with a smile. "To begin with when I pulled his hose down, I took…."


	6. Chapter 6

To the East

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

"That's enough." Castle said, becoming embarrassed. "I assume you were with this stable boy to learn something?"

"Of course. I found that Count von Schiller has only one hundred and twenty-one soldiers and only twenty-seven horses. Soldiers and horses are in bad shape. Larissos is neither large nor wealthy and von Schiller has only made that worse. He's a tyrant. He taxed the fisherfolk so heavily that they left for other ports. Merchant ships won't stop her because of the excessive taxes he imposes. The peasants we saw running from us always run when they see armed men. Having no other source of food, von Schiller takes all the food he can find from them, leaving them with nothing. I would have learned more, but one of the horses fell over from want of food and the stable man had to attend to him."

"However," Hamid said, "whether he's a good man or a bad one, we need his harbor. And being good people ourselves, we should pay for it, rather than just taking it. It is what the wealthy and powerful Lord Castle would do."

"Lord Castle would try to be a good man, I suppose." Castle said. "Shall we join the Count in the great hall?"

When they got there, the Count, long with his officers, had already started. Seated next to the Count was a lovely young woman who Castle presumed was his wife. Although sitting, she appeared to be tall and slender, with long black hair, sea green eyes, and a complexion even paler than Alexis'. She sat by her lord with her head demurely downcast and ate daintily.

On the other hand, the Count and his men were eating as if they never expected to eat again. As the Count rose to greet his guests, it was clear that he had been at the wine as well.

"I do apologize for starting without you, "He said, swaying slightly, "but this just looked so delicious, we couldn't wait. Isn't that right, my dear?"

His wife nodded.

"Oh, this is my wife, Aurelia. Greet our guests who have brought us such fine food."

Aurelia looked up with a blank look on her face and said very quietly, "Welcome to our house." Then she put her head down again.

Von Schiller laughed. "She's quite meek now, but you should have seen her when we were married. She fought me like a lion. I had to tie her down, hand and foot to the bed before I could take her." He sat down abruptly and grabbed more wine.

The meal continued with the von Schiller party eating as fast as they could, even Countess Aurelia seemed to have regained her appetite. Then the Count spoke. "Tell me, Lord Richard, how do you handle the peasants in your part of the world?"

Castle thought for a moment on how to answer this. He decided to answer honestly. "In France, when we were at war, we used to ride in great chevauchees. That is, great raids in which we'd deprive the French of all the bounty of their lands and take it for ourselves. We'd drive the peasants into the towns and cities so they could no longer work their fields. This also increased the number of hungry mouths the cities had to feed. For out own peasants in England and elsewhere, we've found that treating them well works best."

Von Schiller laughed. "You must have very different peasants from the damned Greeks I have to deal with. They lie, they cheat, they steal, the hide their gold and their food. I whip them, burn them, hang them and draw and quarter them. I take their wives and daughters for my men, but still they won't give up their gold and hoarded food. What kind of people prefer death, agonizing death, to giving me my due as their lord?"

"Perhaps they have no hoarded gold or food." Castle replied.

'Bah! That's what my wife tells me. My own wife supports their lies." Von Schiller slapped Aurelia across the face, very hard. Then he grabbed the top of her dress and tore it downwards, exposing her breasts. "Stupid Greek whore!" Von Schiller screamed. "Get out of here."

Aurelia rose and left in tears.

Seeing that no ladies in waiting or maids were coming to assist the Countess, Alexis followed her.

The Count drained his cup of wine and went back to eating as if nothing had happened. Castle thought that perhaps this was nothing to von Schiller.

Castle began eating his food rapidly, wanting to get this meal over as quickly as possible. He noticed that Kate, Ryan, Hamid and the two archer captains apparently felt the same way. When they were done with the meal, von Schiller and his officers were well into the wine. Soon, only von Schiller himself seemed to be awake and he was singing something in German, loudly and off key.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Count von Schlller, but we shall retire now." Castle said, as they rose. Von Schiller paid them no attention and kept on singing.

As they left, Alexis joined them.

"I refuse to sleep in that room." Kate said determinedly. "I refuse."

"We won't sleep there." Alexis said quickly. "Get your arms and armor from your rooms, bring everything and go to the barracks where our archers are quartered. Hurry. There's not a second to spare."

"Why should we…" Castle began, but was cut off by Alexis.

"Hurry or we die." Alexis rushed off to the barracks with the two archer captains.

They rushed back to their quarters and armed and armored themselves, except, of course for Father Ryan. Then they ran across the courtyard to the barracks. One inside they saw that all of the archers were ready for war.

"Alexis, what is going on? Why do we need…"

Castle was drowned out by the roar of hundreds of throats from outside. Everyone rushed to the arrow slit windows to see what was happening. Hundreds of peasants were rushing through the now opened gates of the castle. All were armed, although mostly with farm implements or clubs. A few of the Count's soldiers were overwhelmed by a wave of men and killed. The doors to the great hall were thrown open and part of the mob ran inside. More went to the stables and to the barracks that held the rest of the Count's men. They could see bodies being thrown out of the upper stories of the great hall and being torn to pieces by the mob below.

"We must rescue Countess Aurelia." Castle said. "They appear to have no…"

Again, he was cut off by Alexis. "Countess Aurelia needs no help as you can see."

By the light of torches, they could see Aurelia striding out of the great hall, and being cheered by the peasantry. She held something in one hand and when she was handed a spear, they saw it was the head of her late husband. She stuck the head on the spearpoint and held it high. Everyone cheered.

Then she headed for the barracks that the English were in. "Lord Castle," she called, "may I have a word with you. Concerning our deal?"

"Our deal?" Castle's eyes went at once to Alexis. "What deal?"

"I can explain."

From outside, Aurelia called again. "Lord Castle, please. My people are filled with rage and are not easy for me to control. Please come out."

"I'll be right there." Castle replied, walking to the door, dragging Alexis with him. Kate, Hamid and Father Ryan followed closely behind."

"Are you prepared to honor our agreement?" Aurelia asked, walking to within ten feet of Castle, but still surrounded by hundreds of peasants, some now armed with the soldiers' weapons.

"I assume you mean the agreement made with Lady Alexis, my cousin?"

"Of course. What other agreement would there be?"

"It's just that Lady Alexis is young, unworldly and somewhat scatterbrained. I just want to hear the agreement from your lips to ensure myself that young Alexis didn't mess something up." That last brought a fierce glare from Alexis.

Aurelia nodded. "Very well. The people of this land, _my_ people, hate all armed foreigners for what they've done here. It matters not to them that you had no part in their misery. Their hatred is too great. You are well armed and trained soldiers, and could doubtlessly kill all of us, but we would kill many of you. I propose to escort you back to your ships and will have you hold a knife to my throat. In return, you will provide arms and armor for five hundred of my people. One coat of mail, one helmet, one spear and one sword for each man. Is that what Lady Alexis told you?"

"Exactly that." Castle replied. "You have a lot of explaining to do, Alexis." He said quietly to Alexis.

Aurelia stepped forward and handed Castle a large, heavy knife. "You may hold this to my throat."

Castle Looked at the knife. There was blood on it, probably from the late Count. He slid the knife into the scabbard at Aurelia's waist. "It's better if friends walk together." He held out his arm and Aurelia took it. Kate took his other arm and they began walking to the gate. The mob of peasants parted as if by magic.

"I think it will take some time before anyone in your fleet discovers what happened here. I believe we'll get to your boats before they know."

Castle smiled. "They know, Countess von Schiller."

"Please!" Aurelia said sharply. "I am Countess Aurelia Theokrates."

"My apologies, Countess Theokrates. However, I have a number of former poachers in my command. They are very good at moving about without anyone noticing them. I've had some watching the castle. And we have a large force of men-at-arms and mounted archers waiting, just in case."

"You didn't trust von Schiller?"

"Nothing personal. Just business. A soldier should never have to depend on _just_ the good will of his hosts."

No sooner had Castle said this than they could hear horses' hooves.

"Hold the torches up high and close to us so they'll see that I, and my party, are all right."

Aurelia gave orders in Greek and they were suddenly in a pool of light.

They were approached by a hundred or more men-at-arms, led by Jock Tait of Teviotdale, a Scots border lord for whom both Scotland and England had become too hot. Tait reined in some ten yards from Castle.

"Are ye well, my lord?' He asked, his hand by the hilt of his sword.

"We are all fine. Countess Aurelia Theokrates was just escorting us back to our ships."

"The scouts heard what sounded like an affray."

Castle nodded. "There has been something of a change of government in Larissos, but it's nothing that concerns us. However, I'd like you to send a rider back. We've made an agreement with Countess Aurelia to equip five hundred of her men. They'll need a mail shirt, helmet, sword and spear."

"You're sure you have that much to spare?" Aurelia asked, just a bit suspiciously.

"We make a habit of scouring every battlefield after a victory for weapons and armor so that we can replace anything damaged in battle, or equip new recruits who may lack something or another." Lady Alexis said. "I keep track of our weaponry so I know there's enough. And we win a lot of victories."

"Then we shall proceed to your ships"

Lord Castle's men, and women, were quite efficient and soon were outfitting the peasants with the required gear. Some were so weak from hunger that they could hardly stagger away under then weight they now carried. Lord Castle made sure each man got a loaf of bread and some meat and cheese.

Once they were done, they all gladly returned to their ships while Countess Aurelia led her folk back to the castle.


	7. Chapter 7

To the East

By

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

"I never thought I'd be glad to see this cubbyhole, but after the night we had and the "lodgings" we would have had, it looks like a palace, lover."

Caste smiled at his wife. "Anyplace you are looks like a palace to me."

Kate laughed. "Are you trying to seduce me, Lord Castle?"

"Of course."

"You don't need to seduce me. I am always yours."

Late the next morning, one of the scouts reported to Lord Castle. "My lord, three riders approach from the castle. Two women and an older man. One woman is the countess and the man looks like he might be a priest."

Hamid spoke. "A noble Greek lady would not go visiting without at least one lady-in-waiting, but I'd imagine the "lady" in this case is some hastily recruited peasant woman. The ladies would also require a male escort."

"Do you have any idea what she may want?"

"Hard to say since I would say she needs everything."

Castle gathered his wife, Lady Alexis, Father Ryan and his senior captains about him and waited for the arrival of Countess Aurelia Theokrates on the beach.

Countess Aurelia rode up and stopped, then bowed to Lord Castle. "Good day to you, sirs. May I and my companions speak with you?"

Castle nodded. "Of course. We were just about to have lunch. Will you join us?"

Aurelia dismounted. "May I introduce my companions? This is my lady-in-waiting, Zoe and Father Carinas Tzimiskes. Lady Zoe speaks French, as I do, but I fear Father Carinas speaks only Greek."

Lady Alexis immediately assumed the good father could speak any number of languages and made a note to caution her friends if they were to say anything in front of him that they did not want known to the Countess.

A small table was set up on the quarterdeck of the galley and food and drink was set out. From Lady Zoe's pale skin, smooth hands and good manners, Castle decided the young girl, she appeared to be still in her teens, to be an actual lady-in-waiting, and not some handy peasant girl.

They chatted for a bit over wine and food, Finally, Aurelia spoke. "You must think that I'm a terrible person. For a wife to murder her husband must be appalling to any good Christian."

Castle shook his head. "I've been a soldier all of my adult life. I've met many men who deserved nothing more than a quick death as soon as possible. From the way your husband treated you, but more importantly the way he spoke of torturing peasants for hidden food and gold when it was obvious there was none, he deserved to die."

Aurelia slowly nodded. "He was a monster. He came to this land assuming he'd become a wealthy nobleman. In fact, the land here is poor, although there are good fishing grounds nearby and our fishermen made good livings until he began to take so much of their catch that one night, they all got on their boats and left. We also have a fine harbor. Many merchant ships would stop here for food and water before traveling further into the Gulf of Corinth. He began taxing them of up to half of their cargoes and so they stopped coming here. The less there was to tax, the more he saw imaginary enemies and the more violent he became."

"If I may ask, "Kate said, "why did you marry him? Was it an arranged marriage?"

Aurelia smiled ruefully. "No. It was not arranged at all. My family owned this land from the time when the Roman Empire ruled all of the Mediterranean basin. My father put me in a convent to keep me safe when the Franks came. He came to the convent and took me away by force. He had a priest, Catholic, not Orthodox Christian, marry us. I didn't understand a word that was being said, but I screamed "no" over and over. It did no good. He thought that marrying me would give him some control over the peasants. Nothing I could say or do would have produced food and gold when there was none."

Father Ryan looked horrified. "Countess Aurelia, on behalf of the Catholic Church, I apologize. What that priest did was unforgivable. I shall write to Rome and to Avignon to complain. If you will give me the name…"

Aurelia waved him to silence. "The priest was obviously terrified of him. I was terrified of him. "Aurelia looked over at Lady Zoe. "He took Lady Zoe from the convent with me so that I would have a proper lady-in-waiting. On our so-called wedding night, he had to tie me to the bed and rape me to consummate the deed. When I kept fighting him, he brought Lady Zoe to our bedchamber and raped her. He told me that he'd continue to do so until I behaved "properly" as his wife. I did so."

All noticed that Lady Zoe had her head down, but they could see tears falling.

Aurelia took a deep breath. "But, now to business. You paid him a great deal of gold for the use of our harbor. I have five hundred armed peasants, but most know nothing of war and fighting. I have a few old soldiers about, but not enough." Countess Aurelia took a bag of gold from Father Carinas, "How many of your men can I hire for this much gold?"

Castle exchanged glances with Hamid. They both knew what the answer had to be. Castle spoke. "None, I'm afraid."

"Is the gold not enough? Certainly, some men could be hired…"

"It's not that. I have pledged my loyalty to Duke Rodrigo of Istria. I and all of my men are pledged to him for our mission. As much as I'd like to help you, I cannot."

"And I, and all of my men, am pledged to my master, the Sultan." Hamid added.

"Do you have a fast ship available?" Lady Alexis asked.

"I can get one. Why?"

"I know a man in Brindisi. He's honest and honorable, at least as far as mercenaries go, and he does have a small force that could be of use to you. And he owes me a favor, so your gold should cover his services for a year. By then, we would hope you'll have the County of Larissos on a paying basis and can keep paying him. I'll write him a letter. You'll need to have it taken to him."

Aurelia sighed and relaxed for the first time in a very long time. "Thank you so very much. I won't forget this, I promise."

Kate made a mental note to ask Alexis later just how much this was going to cost them. The gold was more than enough for the use of the harbor for a few days. However, she was sure it was not enough to pay a competent mercenary company for a year.

"May I offer you some hospitality in return? I have something I'm sure you've never tasted before."

"Of course." Castle said.

"Would you prepare some boiling water please?"

Hamid called one of the cooks over. "How much water, Countess?"

"A quart should do it." She took a bag from her waist and opened it. "This is a ground bean grown in Africa in a country beyond the Red Sea. When infused with boiling water, it makes a potion that while somewhat bitter, is a mild stimulant. To counteract the bitterness, I add some of these ground-up seed pods, also from Africa. It makes things sweet. I also add a bit of milk."

They watched as Aurelia added the ingredients to water and then poured the concoction into cups. Castle and Alexis found it too bitter, and Hamid and Ryan thought it was acceptable, but no more. Lady Kate thought it was excellent. "What are these called?" She asked.

"I don't know. I got it from a merchant who traveled to Africa, but I couldn't pronounce the name of what the native people who grew this called them."

"Whatever this is, it's excellent. Thank you for sharing this with us."

"Please, then. Take what I have. It's the least I can do."

Kate decided to accept the gift.

When Aurelia had left, Kate turned to Alexis. "How much will this cost us? Your mercenary friend, that is?"

"Nothing. It will cost me a favor, though."

"Are you sure?"

Alexis blushed, something Kate didn't see very often. "Any woman who would kill that bastard deserves to be rewarded."

Kate decided to go no further.

Two days later, the skies cleared and the armada set out to sea again. They sailed around the mainland of Greece and into the Aegean Sea.

Castle stood on the deck of the flagship as dawn broke and scanned the horizon. "Hamid, I can see what look like signal fires burning on shore and every ship is headed for shore as fast as they can. Is that because of us?"

"Of course. I doubt if anyone has ever seen a fleet showing both the lion of St. Mark of Venice and the red crescent of the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire before. And the locals have no love for either Venice or us Turks."

"Might they attack us?"

Hamid scoffed. "Who? The Byzantines? The local Franks? All together, they haven't got enough of a navy to even make us notice we'd been attacked by them."

Several days later they sailed through the Dardanelles and on into the Sea of Marmora, which separated Europe from Asia.

Kate came on deck and stood with her husband. "That's Asia." She said quietly. "My father was in Asia as a young man. He even stopped at Constantinople."

"You miss him." Rick said, pulling her close.

"I miss them both, but I have you."

He held her more tightly and kissed the top of her head.

"Warships ahead." Called a lookout. That brought Hamid as well as Lady Alexis to the deck at once.

"Byzantine ships." Grunted Hamid. "Ten of them. Probably their whole fleet. And they're nothing but Liburnians, the smallest seagoing warship. What can they possibly want?"

"Maybe we should ask them?" Alexis suggested.

Hamid thought for a second. "I suppose we could." He ordered the ship's captain to have all the ships back their oars and the fleet came to a slow stop. A single Byzantine ship approached as near as they could to the flagship.

"I am Admiral Niarchos. May I come aboard?" A man shouted.

"Come in peace. May Allah be with you."

"I shall. And may God be with you."

A small boat brought over the admiral and he climbed aboard the flagship and was greeted with as much pomp and ceremony as the most powerful potentate on Earth would have. Hamid bade him sit at his side with Richard, Kate and Alexis on the other side.

"I am Lord Hamid ibn Jinnah and I serve the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. However, my master had bid me to ally myself with the Dukedom of Istria. This is the famous, wealthy and powerful Lord Richard Castle, an Englishman. English armies have routed the best armies in all of western Christendom and Lord Castle's army is one of the best. I myself have seen these Englishmen fight, and they fight like the Devil himself, although they worship the same God that we do. I have advised my master that it is far better to ally ourselves with them than fight them. With us are Lord Castle's wife, Lady Katherine and her sister, Lady Alexis."

Castle wondered how Alexis had been promoted from Kate's cousin to her sister, but said nothing.

"May God be with you all." Said the admiral. "I am Admiral Stavros Niarchos and I serve the Roman Emperor John V Palaiologos. My master wishes to know your intentions."


	8. Chapter 8

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

Castle remembered that the Byzantines considered themselves the only successors to the Roman Empire, the western half of which had fallen nearly nine hundred years ago. "Our intentions are completely peaceful as far as your empire is concerned." Castle said quickly. "A Mongol named Tamerlane is preparing to attack to the west from the great steppes and grasslands of Central Asia. Less than a century ago the Mongols attacked Europe, and other lands. Were it not for the death of their leader, they could have destroyed all of Europe, including my home, England. We are joining with the Ottoman Empire to stop the Mongols. Once that is done, I and my troops will return home."

"We remember the Mongols of Genghis Khan. He was most powerful, as is this Tamerlane. We have heard of him as well. If you are able to defeat this Mongol, might the two powers, The Bishop of Rome and the Muslims seek to crush our empire? And others?"

"We might. But if we don't stop Tamerlane, you will be crushed. Remember the Mongols sacked great cities and left nothing but death in their wake."

"So did the Venetians, here, in 1204." Niarchos said angrily.

"We are English, not Venetians. We have hired the Venetians to take us to the Crimea and from there my army will go to the Caucasus while the Turks join their master in the south and the Venetians remain in the Black Sea."

"Wish that all of Venice would stay in the Black Sea. Preferably under it." The admiral grumbled.

Suddenly Alexis spoke. "We know of the strength of your empire, Admiral. If we wished, we could simply sail on by you. You could do nothing to stop us, could you."

Admiral Niarchos made no reply, but the look on his face told everyone that Alexis was right. She continued. "Hence our stopping for your small fleet is a sign that we mean you no harm. Am I not correct?"

"The Emperor wishes to hear this from the lips of your leader personally."

"Send Lord Castle off to Constantinople so that you could take him prisoner and have a hold over us?" Hamid said. "Not likely."

"Perhaps if Admiral Niarchos were to stay as our hostage?" Alexis suggested.

"Trade an admiral of a tiny fleet for Lord Castle? Absurd."

"However, the good admiral is the cousin of the Emperor John V, and one of the few people the emperor can trust. Remember that the throne of Constantinople is neither hereditary nor elective. It is seized. The Emperor has far too few people he can trust."

"Agreed." Said the admiral.

Castle looked at Hamid, Kate, and Alexis. "Agreed."

"Now we need to discuss Lord Castle's escort." Hamid demanded.

They settled on a hundred mounted archers and a hundred knights. That was enough to advertise Lord Castle's status without giving the Byzantines cause to fear him.

Hamid had everyone go through all the weapons and armor in the fleet so that all of the escort would be the best armed and armored soldiers in the entire city. He also had the officers in charge of the horse transports select the best two hundred horses and see to it that they were washed, combed, and curried. Saddles and bridles were polished until they shone.

After some discussion, it was decided to dress Lord Castle as a wealthy and powerful man visiting his equals, and not as an armored knight. All of Lord Richard's clothing was the costliest embroidered silk, set with fine jewelry. An expensive sable stole went across his shoulders, closed with a gem encrusted broach. On his feet were costly, supple leather boots, finely decorated with pearls.

Lady Katherine had even finer clothing and Lady Alexis had somehow managed to find enough jewelry for Lady Katherine to cover her with an Emperor's ransom worth of jewelry. Lady Alexis was equally well turned out, although her clothing was more provocative than Lady Katherine's, and her jewelry just slightly less expensive.

The horses were landed from the horse transports late in the day, so that they could acclimate themselves to being ashore before the Castles and their party landed.

When dawn broke, the walls of the city were crowded with people. Not just the usual soldiers on watch, but all manner of citizenry from ragged urchins to well-dressed nobles and wealthy merchants. More than a few women were on the walls, some to see Lord Castle and a few to see Lady Katherine who was renowned for her beauty and for her stylish dress. A few men and women were in the crowd to see Lady Alexis. They were her people and knew they would be well rewarded for the information they brought.

Boats began leaving the fleet and a thrill went through the crowd. First were the archers, then the knights, all with weapons, chain mail and plate armor gleaming in the morning sun. At last came the boats carrying the famous Lord and Lady Castle and Lady Alexis.

When all were mounted, Lord Castle led them through the Harbor of Julian, through the gates and into the city. Castle paid very close attention to everything around him. He saw that the walls seemed in good repair and that the soldiers at the gate were well armed and armored. They also appeared to be veteran troops. Castle remembered the Varangian Guard of the Emperor. Initially, they had been Norsemen but after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 many Saxons soldiers, displaced by the Normans, had come to Constantinople and entered the Varangians. The men he saw were tall, strong and had fair complexions. He wondered if he spoke to them in English if they would reply in the same tongue. But, he had things to do.

Once past the walls, they were met by a troop of cavalry. Again, they appeared to be veteran soldiers and were as well armed, armored and mounted as his own troops. A gorgeously dressed officer bowed from the saddle to Lord Castle and his family.

"I am Michael Frankopoulos. I am here to escort you to the Palace of Blachernae and the Emperor. I regret to inform you that the Emperor cannot see you today, but perhaps tomorrow."

All three avoided smiling. Keeping a visiting dignitary waiting was a not uncommon way of putting someone in their place. Castle nodded politely. "I should hope so. I would hate to leave Constantinople without seeing the Emperor."

As they headed to the northern part of the city, all three carefully looked around them. Castle noticed that there were other soldiers on the streets and in the squares. Their chain mail was rusted in spots and their weapons were dirty. They didn't have the look of veterans.

Lady Katherine looked at the people. Too many of them seemed ragged and poor. The markets were small and not well attended. Those market stalls that were open seemed to be selling the basic necessities of life: food, wine, clothing, shoes and similar things. She noticed there were no street performers about. There were no singers, jugglers, story tellers or magicians. The whole city seemed drab and unhappy.

Lady Alexis noticed what had once been the homes of the wealthy. Great palaces were abandoned and boarded up. Smaller mansions appeared to have been cut up into tenements for the poor to live in. Those palaces that were still occupied seemed shabby and she could see heavily armed guards watching anyone who came near. _If the wealthy are leaving, or no longer wealthy, this is not a good place to be. _She thought.

Kate rode a little closer to Rick. "Once Byzantium, or the Eastern Roman Empire as it likes to call itself, ruled all of the Eastern Mediterranean, from Egypt through Palestine and Syria, to Anatolia and all the way into the Balkans. They even ruled as far as Venice in the past. Constantinople was the grandest, wealthiest, most powerful city in all of the world. Now look at it."

Castle nodded. 'Now the rule a bit of mainland Greece and a few Aegean Islands."

"But we do control the best trade routes from Asia to Europe and the sea route between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean." Frankopoulos said defensively.

_Perhaps._ Castle thought. _Until the Turks swallow the Empire up._

They arrived at the Palace of Blachernae, home of the Emperor. In spite of whatever had happened to the rest of the city of Constantinople, the palace was magnificent. The walls were sturdy, the guards had the look of elite troops and the servants seemed to be well fed, well dressed and happy. They dismounted and their horses were led away. Frankopoulos led them inside. All was clean and polished inside. Magnificent murals and tapestries covered the walls. The floors were of highly polished marble, often covered with costly carpets. The furniture that could be seen was costly and well maintained. Castle could smell flowers about them. He didn't know what they were, but the scents were very pleasant.

They were led to a series of large rooms where Castle was told his retinue would stay. He and his officers inspected them and found them quite nice.

"Better than some burned our peasant's house in France." Muttered Huw of Llandovery.

"Where do I and the ladies stay?" Castle asked Frankopoulos.

"A set of apartments just a bit further, Lord Castle."

The apartments were spectacular. Highly polished marble floors, a mural of some long dead Emperor smiting barbarians, furniture of costly hardwoods from some far part of the world. Castle could smell sandalwood which he knew came from the distant East and cost a fortune. He had only smelled it once before, after Poitiers, when he had inspected the French King's abandoned tent.

Alexis went to examine the beds. "Silk sheets, quite new. The mattress is filled with down, I'd wager. The pillows seem to have some sort of aromatic in them. In short, a place where a girl could make plenty of money." She caught herself. "Not that I would do that. Not anymore."

Kate and Rick just smiled.

They were interrupted by a maid, who's English was quite serviceable.

"Lord and ladies, do you wish your bath now?" She blushed slightly. "If you are unfamiliar with the Roman custom of bathing…She left the sentence dangling.

"We are quite familiar with bathing." Kate said, trying not to sound insulting.

"Will you require assistance?"

Rick laughed. "I've never had any need for assistance in bathing Kate, not she with bathing me."

"Perhaps you need assistance with the water?" The maid said diffidently.

"Why would we need assistance?" Kate asked.

"Follow me, please." The maid led them through a short hallway. There was a marble bath sunken into the floor. It looked like it could accommodate a dozen people, however it was the device at the end of the bath that attracted Kate and Rick's attention. A large copper pipe protruded through the wall with what looked to Castle like beer barrel spigots attached to it.

"On the other side of the wall is a boiler that keeps water hot and a tank of cold water. To fill the bath, you depress the spigots until you get the water to your satisfaction, then fill the bath. The lever on the side will open and close a drain at the bottom. Do you need any assistance?"

"We'll manage." Kate said.

In minutes they had their clothes off and had the water temperature to their liking. Then they stood in the bath as the water level rose.

Castle drew her to him and cupped the taut globes of her ass. "My God, Kate. You're as beautiful and as sexy as ever." He moved his hands to her breasts. "They're just as firm and succulent as ever. "He bent and kissed one.

She took ahold of his erection. "I could talk about your physical attributes, dear Lord Castle, but I'd rather do this." She put both arms around his neck and hoisted herself up and then impaled herself on him. "I suppose I could do all of the work, my Lord, but it would be better if you…" She squealed ash he put his hands under her thighs and began moving her up and down, very rapidly.

By the time they were done they had filled the bath up with hot water twice, but they were very, very clean.


	9. Chapter 9

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

When they had dressed and gone into their quarters, they found Alexis gone. "Where has she wandered off to?" Castle asked. "I hope we don't have to get her out of trouble."

"When have you ever had to get me out of trouble?" Alexis said, entering their apartments. She was nearly unrecognizable. She wore a ragged and worn dress, was shoeless and was quite dirty. Her flaming red hair was covered with a scraggly brunette wig. "I've been taking to the servants, pretending to be one of your servants. They always seem to know more than anyone suspects. Everyone is afraid of losing their jobs here. It seems the Empire is quite bankrupt. They can't cut the military since they're the only thing keeping the Turks out, plus if they did try it, the army would rebel and put in a new Emperor more to their liking." Alexis looked down the hallway. "Did you try the bath? I'm next then." And she headed down the hallway shedding clothing as she went.

Castle checked his soldiers and made sure that there were guards posted outside his and Kate's apartment and at the entrances to their part of the palace.

A fine dinner was brought to them, as good as any they'd ever had. Rick was about to check his soldiers and Kate was reading when a heavy-set man with a shaved head and dressed in magnificent green silk embroidered robes knocked politely and entered.

"Lord and Lady Castle, I am John the Cypriot." From his high pitched but pleasing voice, Castle decided the man was a eunuch. "I am a servant of the Princess Anna, sister of the Emperor. I feel I must express myself directly. Princess Anna has very powerful sexual appetites and she has heard that…"

"No!" Kate said strongly. "I don't care who she is, I do not share my husband with another woman. Not now, not ever. Never!"

John smiled. "I'm afraid you misunderstand me. Princess Anna's tastes run to…females. She wishes to meet Lady Castle. And she wants to do more than meet, if you understand me."

Kate was completely shocked. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but no words came out. However, she did hear. "Fine. I'm ready to go."

She whirled around to see Alexis standing there, dressed in, what for her, was a very conservative blue gown. Only the tops of her breasts were visible rather than the tops, sides and occasionally the bottoms of her breasts.

"Well, what are we waiting for, John the Cypriot? Let's go. Do you want to keep Princess Anna waiting?"

John looked at the two women. "I'm sorry. I assumed there was but one Lady Castle. There are two?"

"Certainly. She is Lady Katherine Castle and I am Lady Alexis Castle. And believe me Princess Anna will be quite happy that she selected me and not the other one." Alexis grabbed the man's hand and hustled him out the door.

Lady Alexis returned at as Rick and Kate were having breakfast. She looked tired and somewhat bedraggled.

"How was your…evening?" Kate asked, not sure what to call Alexis's night out.

The redhead shrugged. "Princess Anna is a bit too used to being in charge and isn't very imaginative, but she has a spectacular collection of toys."

"Toys?" Castle asked, somewhat confused. "I had assumed she was an adult."

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Kate, can you explain that to your husband? I need some sleep."

"Certainly. Tonight, when we're in bed, lover."

All was well until a few hours later. Castle heard the clash of arms outside their apartments. He could hear oaths in English, Welsh and Scots as well as yelling in Greek. He rushed outside to see his men faced off against a very large force of Imperial Guardsmen.

"What's going on here?" He yelled.

Huw of Llandovery ran to him. "They say they've come to arrest you and Lady Katherine, Lord Castle."

"Why?" He asked, quite puzzled.

"If I may speak?" Yelled a voice from the Guardsmen. It was Michael Frankopoulos, now dressed in shining plate armor, chased with gold and apparently in charge of the guards.

"Let him come forth." Castle said.

Frankopoulos pushed his way to Castle. "Lord Castle, Princess Anna has been murdered. The last person to see her was your wife, Lady Castle. I'm afraid that you both must come with me."

Castle was about to explain the error of their being two Lady Castles, when Alexis interrupted. "Lady Katherine Castle is prepared to answer any and all questions. "And, sure enough, Kate was standing behind Alexis, looking very determined. "As her lady-in-waiting, I ask that I be allowed to accompany her."

Frankopulos nodded. "Of course. We would not expect a gentlewoman to be without a companion." He turned to Castle. "Are you ready, Lord Castle?"

Rick nodded and off they went.

"I'll send word to the fleet." Huw said in Welsh as Rick passed him.

They were led through the palace and at long last arrived at the throne room. The place was chaotic, with people talking too loudly, getting together in small groups and then breaking up at once to form other groups. As the crowd realized that the Castles were being led in, silence overcame the vast room. The guards pushed the trio through the crowd until they stood at the throne, where the Emperor and Empress say.

All three bowed deeply, but when they raised their heads, the Imperial pair were seated high above them, ten feet in the air.

"Hydraulics." Lady Alexis muttered softly. "Something to impress barbarians, but not us."

The thrones gradually sank back to the floor. Both the Emperor and the Empress appeared to have been just awakened, but they were still attired in gorgeous cloth of gold robes, covered with embroidery and precious gems.

The Emperor spoke. "Lord Frankopoulos, is this the woman you saw led to my sister's bedchamber? Was she Lady Katherine Castle?"

Frankopoulos bowed deeply. "It was, Your Majesty."

"Do you concur, John?" The Emperor turned to John the Cypriot, servant of Princess Anna.

"No, Your Majesty. It was the other one."

"The other one?" The Empress demanded. "What other one?"

"There are two Ladies Castle, Your Majesty. There is Lady Katherine Castle, wife to Lord Richard Castle, and there is Lady Alexis Castle, the sister of Lord Castle."

"You're sure?"

John nodded. "Of course, Your Majesty. Lady Alexis has very bright red hair. One could hardly mistake one for the other."

All eyes in the room turned to Lord Frankopoulos, who was looking very uncomfortable.

"Guards, we shall need to question Lord Frankopoulos more thoroughly, and everyone else in the palace who may have seen either of the Ladies Castle so we may know their exact whereabouts. That is all." Both the Emperor and Empress stood and left the throne room. As soon as they had left, the room was once again filled with conversation.

John the Cypriot approached the three Castles. "There seems to have been some awful mistake. If I may escort you back to your quarters?"

Once back at their quarters, they assured everyone that they were alright, and had Huw contact the fleet and advise them of that.

Richard, Kate and Alexis sat down in the Castle's apartments and tried to decide what had happened.

"Alexis, do you have any idea why anyone would want to frame Kate for the murder of Princess Anna?"

Alexis shook her head. "I've thought of nothing else since we were arrested, but I have no answers. My best guess would be that this was some sort of palace intrigue, but that makes little sense. Princess Anna was known for her sexual adventures and wild life, but she had no partisans at court, no one who would want her on the throne."

"Perhaps as an easily influenced figurehead for someone else?" Kate asked.

"What I know about her tells me that she was the least easily influenced woman imaginable. As someone I know said, she had a whim of iron."

"Enemies at court?" Rick asked.

"Perhaps, you don't seduce as many women as she did, wives, sisters, daughters and mothers, without upsetting someone. But I know of no one who had enough of a grudge to kill her."

"But why pin it on Kate?"

She shook her head. "An easy target. A friendless foreigner in Constantinople. I know, I know. She has many thousands of heavily armed friends, but the locals act as if they were still the old Roman Empire, ruler of all the lands around the Mediterranean Sea."

The were interrupted by a knock on the door. Rick answered it, finding one of his archers who had been standing guard, there.

"Excuse me, Lord Castle, but there's a man here to see you. Well, a sort of a man, I suppose."

"John the Cypriot?"

"Yes, My Lord."

"Allow him to enter,"

John looked quite embarrassed.

"Lord Castle, Lady Katherine and Lady Alexis, I've come to add my own apologies and advise you that the Emperor has advised me that he regrets that this unfortunate incident occurred."

"Please tell the Emperor that his apologies are accepted." Castle said, noting that what John had said was not exactly an apology from the Emperor. "Do we know why my wife was accused of this crime?"

John shook his head. "Lord Frankopoulos is being questioned, rather mildly at the moment, but he has said nothing. Yet." Then he smiled. "However, many people want to distance themselves from whatever Lord Frankopoulos was up to. Lord Castle, you've been invited to join a hunt organized by the Imperial Master of the Horse, the commander of the Emperor's cavalry, and Ladies Katherine and Alexis have been invited to embroider with the ladies of the court."

"Lady Katherine and I will gladly accept." Alexis said very quickly.

"As will I." Castle added.

"You must now be out of a job, what with the death of Princess Anna." Alexis asked, always looking for informants in need of cash.

"Oh, no. I've transferred to the service of Princess Sara, she is the sister of the Empress, and quite a different person from the late, lamented Princess Anna. Princess Sara is only fifteen years of age and quite bright. Very studious."

"If I'm to go on a hunt tomorrow, I'll need to rest. Good night, John."

During the hunt the next day, Castle found that Lord Hamid had come in from the fleet to join the hunt. After a brisk morning of riding after seemingly non-existent game, they were treated to a lavish lunch in a magnificent tent. The tent was hung with silken drapery and the ground was covered with thick Persian rugs. The guests sat in comfortable chairs while comely maids served a profusion of tasty and costly dishes.

Lord Hamid sat next to Rick.

"By God, I'm glad to get away from Princess Sara. The damned girl is insatiable, Richard." Hamid took a long swallow of his wine.

Castle was a bit shocked. "I had understood that the Princess was rather young and not inclined to…romantic interludes.' He finished lamely.


	10. Chapter 10

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

"By God, Richard. Not that kind of insatiable. She has an insatiable curiosity, and her current passion is geography. Did you know there's some island to the north and west of England? Praise God, but to be both north and west of England it must be even worse than Scotland. The natives, the bloody Norsemen, call it the Land of Ice. And there are supposed to be other bloody islands beyond that. I just couldn't get rid of the little...Princess. I'm a diplomat, not a damned geographer. If there was a mountain of gold in the Land of Ice, I might be interested, but I'd certainly send someone else to find it."

"I'm sure once she knew you had no special knowledge of any islands in the Atlantic, she must have let you go." Castle said.

"Ha! Shows you what you know. No sooner was she done with the damned islands in the middle of no where than she wanted to know about the lands south of the Maghreb, the land south of the great desert. And then she was off on the Land of the Chin and more bloody islands beyond them."

"At least you've made a friend here in Constantinople." Rick said, hiding a smile.

"When we take Constantinople, I'll put her in my harem, and when I really want to torture an enemy, I'll send him to her and tell her that he's a great geographer but that he won't reveal his secrets. He'll go mad in no time."

When Castle returned to the palace, he found that Kate and Alexis had just returned from their "embroidering".

"There was no embroidering done by the ladies of the court, all that was done by maids. All the ladies did was gossip." Kate moaned.

"Which was what I expected. That sort of thing is just an excuse for the bored ladies to get together and trade juicy gossip." Alexis smiled. "I found out who tried to frame Katherine. Once Lord Frankopoulos was assured that neither his head, or other useful parts would be cut off, he was quite cooperative. It was Ser Ludovico Colonna, the Ambassador from Venice."

"But Venice agreed to this. Why would their ambassador try to sabotage our plan?" Rick demanded.

Alexis shrugged. "Since he wasn't in Venice, I wasn't able to bribe him to be on our side. He's not just an ambassador, he's a very wealthy and powerful man in his own right. He probably wants to become the Doge of Venice himself and anything that undermined the current Doge would be to his advantage."

"How will he be punished?"

"Not at all. He's too wealthy and has bribed too many Byzantines. And the Empire has no desire to antagonize Venice, or at least one of their most influential men. But, after the diplomatic fiasco that just happened, the Emperor can't wait to be rid of us. We're to sail tomorrow."

And sail they did the next day. Slowly the fleet weighed anchor and sailed through the Bosphorus and into what the Byzantines called the Euxine Sea but what others called the Black Sea.

"What is this place we're headed for?" Alexis asked Hamid.

"A port called Cembalo, recently captured by the Genoese, on the Tauric Peninsula, sometimes called Krim by the locals. North of the peninsula are the great steppes from which my own people sprung. They run from the eastern part of Christendom to the Land of the Chin, and for all I know, beyond that. And once there, we'll see how good Ottoman Turkish diplomacy is."

The harbor at Cembalo was large, but not large enough to hold the entire fleet. However, the ship carrying the Castles and Hamid anchored near the shore and they went ashore. They were greeted by a large group of well-dressed men. One stepped forward and spoke in English.

"Lord Castle? I am Heinrich Gehlen, the governor of this town for the Republic of Genoa. On behalf of Genoa, I welcome you and your army."

"I'm most pleased to be here, Governor Gehlen, and surprised to find someone who speaks English."

Gehlen laughed. "My family were merchants in Rostock. Not the big, wealthy merchants, but little ones. We were not allowed to go to London to trade, but as a young lad, I went to Portsmouth. There I found I had a facility for languages which has served me well. I began to wander and to trade and eventually ended up in Genoa. They thought I would be a good candidate to go see to Genoa's interests here at the end of the world." Gehlen laughed. "You will find that this is not the end of the world, but it is the end of civilization as we understand it to be. Beyond here is nothing but horse barbarians for as far as I know. Oh, yes, I've heard of the great Land of the Chin, but it's a hell of a long way from here."

"Has my master, the Sultan, made an agreement with you?" Hamid asked.

"You must be the great Lord Hamid ibn Jinnah. And, yes, the Sultan has hired both Genoese troops and the army of the Great Khan of the Golden Horde, Urus Khan." Gehlen lowered his voice. "Of course, there about twenty other men who claim to be the Great Khan of the Golden Horde. Urus holds little more than the eastern half of the peninsula of Krim, and so will welcome the Turkish gold you bring. And Genoa will welcome your gold as well." Gehlen looked out to sea. "I see that your army is disembarking, Lord Castle. Do you wish to supervise, or would you like to join me for some refreshments?"

"I'll supervise my men, thank you." Castle replied.

Gehlen slapped him on the shoulder. "Good. I have heard many good things about your English soldiers, and more about their leaders. No wonder you are one of the most powerful men in England."

Castle glanced at Alexis who smiled. "Governor Gehlen, you have no idea the wealth and power of Lord Castle." Which was quite accurate.

Landing the army lasted into the night and when Rick went to go to bed, he was only mildly surprised to find that Alexis had erected a large tent for herself, Kate and himself. Entering the tent, Rick found a flagon of chilled wine waiting for him and a plate of food. A small brazier was providing heat, and Kate was in a padded chair reading a book. Alexis was in the back of the tent, talking to an attractive, young blonde woman.

"We have company?" He asked.

Alexis smiled. "This is Jagwida. She's from the shores of the Baltic Sea. She was taken as a slave and I acquired her in Constantinople. I have found…"

"I realize that slavery is legal, but I don't like it. I've been surrounded by soldiers all of my life and I can't imagine any slave fighting like a free man does. I should think…"

"Lady Alexis has freed me, Lord Castle." Jagwida said in surprisingly good English. "I was owned by a translator in the Imperial Court in Constantinople. I have a facility for languages. My master encouraged my studies. I became knowledgeable of the tongues of you Franks and of the steppe lands to the north of the Empire."

Alexis spoke. "This Gehlen is to accompany us to interpret for us. I thought it would be nice to have someone who could listen in and make sure the translations were accurate. After all, no one ever notices a maid attending some empty-headed aristocratic lady."

"Gehlen is going with us to interpret?" Castle broke in.

"Of course."

"And you didn't tell me because, Alexis?"

"Technically, I didn't know until I got here, but I had my suspicions in Constantinople. However, I don't usually bother you with mere suspicions, but if you want me to tell you…."

"Richard," Kate interrupted with a smile, "I think it would be best to let Alexis do her work as she sees fit. She has been an enormous help to us."

Alexis literally glowed at the praise from Kate.

"Jagwida and a few others have been nosing around on our behalf. I've been especially concerned about the local army that the Sultan has hired. Jagwida says there four thousand Genoese troops here ready to join us."

"Four thousand?" Castle said. "I didn't think there were that many Genoese in all of the Republic's Black Sea trading posts."

Alexis shrugged. "The officers and a few hundred men are actual Genoese, or at least from Italy. More are Genoese by virtue of having a Genoese father and a local mother. Others are Hungarians, Rus, Wallachians, Bulgars, Albanians, Greeks, and God alone knows who else, but they are well armed and armored, seem well trained and well disciplined, and with the arrival of Turkish gold, well paid."

Castle nodded. "Four thousand crossbowmen should be a help to us."

Alexis frowned. "That's not exactly what you're getting."

Rick rolled his eyes. "What are we getting."

Alexis smiled. She loved showing off her knowledge to her friends.

"The crossbowmen operate in pairs. When they have time, they set up a pavise, a very large shield that's braced with a thick stake. The pavise is big enough to cover both men. One man fires the crossbow and the other reloads a second crossbow. When one has fired, he hands the loaded crossbow to his partner and reloads the other crossbow. They can keep up a very good rate of fire that way. And when one man tires of spanning the crossbow, they change places. They'll also have a spear in case anyone gets close and they'll both have swords, of course."

Rick nodded. "Sounds good."

"The problem is the pavises themselves, of course. To be big and thick enough to protect two men, they are quite heavy and have to be carried in wagons. If your army is surprised, you're in trouble."

"What about this Urus Khan?" Kate asked.

"He leads what is basically a tribal warband of some two thousand horsemen, originally they were Mongol and still consider themselves such, but they are now Moslems and are much like the Turks who live to the south of them. His warriors are loyal to him personally and not to anyone or anything else. Most of his troops are horse archers, using composite bows. Unlike the English longbow which is made from a single piece of wood, the composite bow is made from wood, horn and sinew and is more powerful assuming they are of the same size. Their tactics are to try to keep out of range of their enemy's weapons, then dash in, unleash a barrage of arrows, then dash out. If your charge them, they run and if you chase them too far, they can turn on you and attack. Perhaps a tenth of his troops, the wealthy warriors, are heavy cavalry. Once the blizzards of arrows have worn down their enemy, they'll charge and smash their opponents. They've doing this for thousands of years. The Parthians defeated the Roman general Crassus at Carrhae in 53 BC. They destroyed seven Roman Legions and some eight thousand Roman auxiliaries, say, nearly sixty thousand men. The Parthians numbered some ten thousand."

Castle nodded slowly. "Very impressive. How do you defeat such an army?"


	11. Chapter 11

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

"Have more horse archers, and more heavy cavalry. And have well armed and well trained infantry, especially bowmen and crossbowmen. To be able to shoot from horseback, a horse archer has to have a smaller bow than the kind of composite bow used by Eastern infantry archers, English longbows or crossbows. That means the horse archer has less range. So, instead of them wearing you down by hit and run charges, you wear them down by outranging them when they attack. Usually, you can't defeat them, though. They'll just retreat into the steppes which go on and on for thousands of miles. Eventually you'll get tired of chasing them and leave, then they come back."

"I don't care as long as I can keep them away from my army long enough to get to the Caucasus."

The next day when all of Castle's army had been landed, he reviewed the two new additions to his own force. First the Genoese were inspected. Castle found them to be well armed and armored and seemingly in good spirits. They demonstrated their abilities by setting up a veritable wall of pavises and firing their crossbows at a series of man-sized straw dummies some two hundred and fifty yards away. Castle noted that the wall of pavises had been set up before he arrived. He turned to the commander of the Genoese, Ludovico Canella.

"Tell me, Ser Ludovico, how long would it take to get your pavises from the wagons, and into line, with stakes pounded in to hold up them up?"

Ludovico shrugged. "That depends, Lord Castle. But Urus Khan has very, very good scouts. We should have good notice of anyone coming that might disturb us. But I'm being very careful. I'm having the wagons carrying the pavises stay very close to my crossbowmen."

Next Castle reviewed Urus Khan's army. He was not much impressed with Urus Khan himself. The man was short and heavy. He wore all manner of embroidered silken finery, including what looked to Castle very much like a Christian wedding gown. However, his clothes were stained by dried food and he reeked of alcohol. His horse was small and wiry, but Castle had been told that the steppe horses were tough and could go on where other horses would die and could eat almost any kind of vegetation and thrive.

Urus Khan laughed at Castle, then spoke in acceptable Italian.

"So, Lord Castle, great English Lord, man of great wealth and power, you look at poor Urus Khan and you think, who is this small, dirty man to think he could be the Khan of all the Golden Horde? I'll tell you who I am. I've raised a small, insignificant tribe to be one of the most powerful on the steppes. Yes, I am dirty, because I sent last night roistering with my men to show them that I cannot only outfight anyone of them I can out drink, out eat, out ride and out fuck the best of them. That is who Urus Khan is."

Castle nodded. "Yes, I am now a rich and powerful man, but I started out as a young archer going off to serve my king in his wars with only a dozen men at my back. What I have I gained by force of arms, except for the friendship of many men and the love of my wife. Those I gained through force of character. And that is who Lord Richard Castle is."

Urus Khan roared with laughter.

"You are my kind of man, Lord Castle. We will be great friends, and we will slaughter so many of our foes that the people of the steppes will know of our fame forever."

Urus Khan demonstrated the tactics of his warband, which as Alexis had said, consisted of hit and run raids endlessly repeated.

Castle then gave a demonstration of his army, now some fifteen thousand men strong. He placed them in battle array with his dismounted knights and men-at-arms in the center, numbering some two thousand men, then his longbowmen, nearly half his army arranged on either side, flanked by two small companies of crossbowmen numbering less than a thousand men all told. On either side of them were the infantry ranging from wild Scots and Irish, half naked and armed with spears and swords to the largely Flemish armored infantry, carrying a variety of polearms. They numbered another two thousand. On each wing were some fifteen hundred light cavalry, Scottish reivers, Irish hobelars, Balkan stradiots and many more of uncertain background. Lastly, behind all of the rest were the very best mounted, best armed, best armored and most importantly the best trained and motivated of Castle's knights and men-at-arms, not even five hundred strong.

Castle was satisfied with giving everyone a display of the power of the English longbow. He noted that his bows outranged to bows used by Urus Khan.

When Castle returned to the harbor, he found Hamid ready to leave.

"I am sorry to go, my friend, but I must return to my master, the Sultan. He needs my soldiers should Timur attack us through what was once the Caliphate of Baghdad."

"Without your fleet, I don't know how we'll make sure the Venetians don't desert us here and either go home or attack Turkey, or just become pirates."

"We were arguing about that last night and this morning. Lady Alexis came up with a very good idea. Look at the Venetian ships. What do you see?"

Castle looked. "I see Venetian ships. What should I see?"

"Those are Venetian ships, but the men aboard them are Turks, The Venetians have been taken ashore where they will be kept under guard until you return. The Genoese have no love for their ancient enemies, so here they'll stay. The ships themselves will be beached, and beached as far from the high tide as Turkish muscles can move them." Hamid clapped Castle on the shoulder. "Now, my friend, let us feast tonight and toast to our upcoming victory."

The next morning, the army headed north. Krim was a peninsula that had only a small strip of land connecting it to the great steppes. As usual, things went wrong as the army began their march. Not terribly wrong, but enough to slow things down.

"Why are we stopping?" Castle demanded.

"There's a bloody big swamp ahead of us." Replied a young Scot. "We'll have to go around it. But no one knows which way to go."

Castle rode over to Urus Khan.

"Did no one know this swamp was here?" He asked.

Urus Khan said something that Castle strongly suspected was a curse, then replied.

"It was not here when I arrived. There has been rain of late. It must have been formed then. I have men out scouting for a way past it."

"We'd have had to stop anyway." Said Huw of Llandovery, riding up. "Something spooked our remounts. Half of our horses are all over the peninsula."

Before Castle could say a word, a young priest rode up on an elderly nag.

"Lord Castle, Father Ryan begs permission to go back to Cembalo. Father Ryan regrets that he neglected to buy all of the medicines he needs for our army. However, Lady Alexis has loaned him two fast horses. He can go back and return to the army in no time. He begs your pardon for this and…"

"Yes, yes." Castle said. "Tell Father Ryan he may go."

That night they camped within sight of Cembalo.

The next day was better. Several wagons broke down, two drunken archers stole a wagon full of wine casks and made it all of two hundred yards from the army before deciding to stop and enjoy their booty, and a woman, who was not supposed to be with the army, gave birth to twin girls.

The wagons were fixed, the archers were forced to march in chains behind the wagon they had stolen and the woman, in spite of naming her girls Katherine and Alexis, was sent back to Cembalo.

By the time the crossed the isthmus and entered the steppes proper, the army was in good order. Both Castle's own light cavalry and the horse archers of Urus Khan scouted on all sides of the army as they marched. Castle thought that was appropriate as the Mongols knew the land far better than anyone else in the army.

One thing that Castle learned early on was that while the steppe looked flat, there were gullies and low spots that could hide anything from a small scouting party to an enemy army. One day, such an army appeared.

Urus Khan rode up Castle.

"My friend, there is an enemy force not a mile ahead, hidden in a fold of ground."

Castle looked but could see nothing. "Where? I see nothing and your horsemen seem to have disappeared."

"Oh, they're about, all right. They're on the other side of our friends who…Aha!" He cried. "There they are."

Urus was right. An army of horse archers appeared as if by magic not a mile dead ahead of Castle's army.

"Now you must decide what to do, Lord Castle. That is Jochid Khan, a Tatar, once a general but now he calls himself the Khan of the Golden Horde. He has an army of five thousand men. You have two choices. You can pay him to cross his lands, in which case every tribe from her to the Land of the Chin will be coming to get some of your Turkish gold, or you can fight him. Your army is strong, so you can easily drive him off, but he will attack you day and night until you leave his lands, costing you men, horses and material. And every tribe you come across will attack you as well. What will you do?"

"We will negotiate with him." Said a voice from behind them. It was Alexis, dressed not in her usual silken finery, but in chain mail and heavily armed as well. Riding behind her was Jagwiga dressed in one of Alexis' more conservative gowns. "Don't worry, Lord Castle. I can handle him." She spurred her horse and rode off with Jagwida close behind.

"You let your women negotiate, Lord Castle?" Urus asked.

"I let one very competent woman negotiate."

Alexis stopped some fifty yards from Jochid. At this distance, no one could tell what the two of them were saying, but it appeared that Jagwida was translating. The three dismounted and approached each other. Then Jochid kicked Alexis. Alexis responded by kicking Jochid. Then Jochid kicked back. After five kicks apiece, Jochid fell to the ground. Alexis helped Jochid up and all three mounted and rode towards Castle and Urus.

"What happened?" Castle asked.

Alexis smiled. "I told him it was the custom of my people to have a little test to see if a person was strong and tough enough to be worthy of talking to. I said the test involved kicking each other in the balls until one or the other fell down."

Jochid Khan said something which Jagwida translated at once.

"Jochid admits that he is not as strong and tough as this small soldier, so he will allow you to pass through his lands for a payment of a mere fifty horses. He says he'll pick the horses."

As Jagwida spoke, she moved behind Alexis and undid the leather laces on her chain mail coat. The coat dropped to her waist, revealing her breasts.

Jagwida spoke again. This time Alexis translated.

"Our counter offer is that we won't tell anyone that Jochid Khan lost a fight to a woman."

Jochid then made a long and impassioned speech.

Jagwida smiled.

"He says he'll pay two hundred of the best horses for the redheaded woman. He'll not require she embrace Islam and he'll make her his primary wife."

Castle smiled. "Please tell our guest that there are not enough horses on the steppe to pay for Lady Alexis. There is not enough gold to purchase her."

"Although I can be rented." Alexis whispered.

Jochid laughed as he spoke. Again, Jagwida translated.

"Were she my wife, Lord, I would not sell her either."

Castle decided it was best not to clarify Alexis' status and Jochid rode off. Soon his army disappeared into the steppe.


	12. Chapter 12

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

For over a week, they saw no one. Even Urus' scouts found no one until a pair of riders brought in a young shepherd. Urus spoke to his scouts and then called Castle over to him. Kate and Alexis followed, as did Jagwida.

"Lord Castle, we have wondered why we have seen no one on this steppe for days. Now, thanks to this young lad, we know why."

Castle looked at the boy, who, although he tried to be brave, was obviously terrified.

He looked at Urus who was clearly enjoying himself.

"So, what does this boy know that no one else knows?"

"Jochid couldn't go back and tell his tribe that he'd been outfought and outthought by a mere female, and a Frankish female at that. Instead, he told everyone that you are _shaitan, _the Lord of the Underworld, himself, come to visit us."

"The Devil?" Castle said, frowning.

"Yes, my friend, now you are the Devil himself. Jochid said that you told him to stab you in the heart with his dagger. He did so and you talked to him and even laughed. And when Jochid pulled his dagger from you, there was no blood on it and your skin was unmarked. Although Allah himself could defeat you, Jochid saw no sign of Allah nearby. He felt it best to avoid you. Of course, he told every tribe on the steppe of your powers, and they have grown with every telling. I do believe that my status among the tribes of the Golden Horde has improved. After all, who could ride alongside of _shaitan_ himself but a very brave and resourceful man." As Urus laughed, the boy began to cry.

Alexis rode to the boy, taking a small coin from her purse. She held the coin out to the boy.

"Tell him that this is a talisman that will let all know that he stood before the Lord of Darkness and showed no fear. Whenever the Great Lord comes, in whatever form he takes, and the Great One can assume any form he desires, he will know that you fear him not and he will spare you and yours."

The boy took the coin and smiled up at Alexis.

"Give him a horse and let him return to his people." With that, Alexis lit some of the black powder she carried. There was a great flash of light and a cloud of smoke. "Look, a messenger from Hell itself has arrived." She yelled.

Jagwida translated to the boy. When a horse was given to him, admittedly not the best in the army, he rode slowly off, never looking behind.

"You have the fire powder of the Land of the Chin?" Urus asked Alexis,

"We have some and if we can find the ingredients, we can make more."

They continued across the seemingly endless steppe.

More than a week had passed before something other than the endless slog across a seemingly endless steppe occurred.

"Riders coming in." Someone called.

Urus stood in his stirrups.

"Those are two of my scouts, but something is wrong. They're not riding properly."

The two riders rode right past Urus and Castle and were eventually stopped by other riders. Then it became apparent what was wrong with them.

"Their throats have been cut and they've been tied into their saddles with a broken lance tied to their backs to keep them upright." Urus then proceeded to curse in several languages.

"I'd say someone doesn't believe that I'm the devil incarnate." Castle said. "Probably a very large number of somebodies. There's a dust cloud to the east, made by a fair sized number of horsemen."

"Or a small number of horsemen dragging brush behind them to make it look like a large number, with the main army elsewhere."

"Whichever way it is, we need to get into our defensive positions." Castle began yelling orders to his men.

First the wagons began moving from several strung-out columns into a compact mass as wide as it was deep. Then the dismounted troops began taking their positions around the wagons. Unlike their normal linear formation when being attacked, with dismounted knights and men-at-arms in the center flanked by archers, then crossbowmen, then lightly armed foot and then horsemen, the companies were all mixed together. That way, no matter where the enemy attacked, he'd be facing a small group of archers and crossbowmen with other groups on the flanks. His mounted knight and men-at-arms were kept as a reserve.

"How far is this River Don from here?" Castle asked Urus.

"As slow as we'll have to go like this, five days, better say six."

"And there's a town where the river meets the sea? And boats to get our army across?"

"Yes. But we have to get there first."

They moved slowly, with the wagons, horses and troops throwing up huge clouds of choking dust. The crossbowmen had taken their pavises from the wagons and carried them, but being so heavy, they had to ask the more lightly armed and armored infantry to help carry them. The heavily armored dismounted troops suffered from the heat and dust which slowed the army down.

As night fell, they could see the campfires of the enemy army.

When the sun rose the next morning, they could see the enemy army spread across the horizon to the east of them. Castle's army began to move very slowly towards the east, still in their defensive formation.

"Are we going to have to attack through them?" Castle asked.

Urus shook his head. "No. That is not their way. They will fight as I have said, with swift hit and run attacks to wear us down. I hope though, that we can wear them down with your English longbows."

"Who are they?" Alexis asked, now dressed in chain mail with a helmet concealing her bright red hair.

"Ah." Urus said with a smile. "The Sky Blue Wolves are upon us."

"Who?" Rick and Kate asked in unison

"Those are Mongols. Mongols believe that they are descended from a sky blue wolf. As a good Moslem, I ignore such pagan superstition." Urus thought for a second. "Although, I suppose, being all powerful, God could have made the Mongols in any manner He so pleased."

"They're moving." Alexis said.

"Just the scouts." Urus replied. "They want to see our numbers, how we're armed, how we're organized. They'll stay well out of bow range, for the most part. A few, a very few, will charge, just to see how we respond."

Castle raised his voice. "Stop the army. Wagoneers, hobble your animals so they can't run. Close up the gaps that have opened in our defensive line. Bring baskets of arrows and crossbow bolts to every group of archers and crossbowmen."

Then Castle, accompanied by Kate, Alexis and Urus began to ride behind his army, calling out to them.

"Don't fire until the word is given. Everyone who can, get behind an armored man, a pavise, or a shield." He also called to individuals, archers mostly, who he knew well.

"Jeremy, do you think this is as bad as the time those Flemish mercenaries raided the convoy we were guarding?"

Jeremy laughed. "No, My Lord. That was a terrible day, it was. Those men out there are nothing compared to those Flemish bastards."

And so he rode around his army and then took a place in the center. With him were messengers mounted on swift horses to carry any needed messages.

The Mongol scouts rode slowly around the army, only occasionally dashing towards them and the quickly withdrawing. But Castle's men held firm. Not an arrow or a bolt was fired. Finally the scouts rode back to a small hill where a group of Mongols had stopped.

"That's their leader." Urus said. "I'm sure of it. He'll listen to his scouts and decide how he wants to attack us."

After no more than a quarter of an hour, they heard drums being beaten.

"Mongols use drums to signal with." Said Urus.

The Mongols rode in a long line towards Castle's army. They moved their horses at a walk until they had made a complete circuit of the army. Then the drums began beating again. The riders moved to a trot and then to a canter, still remaining well out of bowshot, riding around the perimeter of Castle's army. Then when the drums beat again, they began to gallop. As they did so, they closed with the army and began to loose their arrows.

Castle stood in his stirrups and yelled. "Loose your arrows."

The Mongols were at the limit of their range, but well within the range of the longbows and crossbows. While not as effective as an arrow storm from several thousand archers standing shoulder to shoulder, each group made its presence felt. Suddenly Mongols and their horses began to fall. Their leaders realized that the stranger's weapons outranged their own. The Mongols pulled back.

After a bit, a lone Mongol rode out, judged the distance, knocked an arrow, and, aiming high in the air, loosed and arrow towards the English lines. It struck the steel breastplate of a knight and bounced off. The knight picked up the arrow and broke it in two.

Huw of Llandovery went to the front of his company and pulled back his bowstring. He loosed his arrow and saw it fly true, but it hit the head of the Mongol's horse. The horse collapsed under its rider. This brought a laugh from the English army.

The Mongols remained out of bowshot while their leader rode down from the hill. A number of Mongols gathered around him.

"I'll bet they've never run into something like this before." Urus said. "If they're from well to the east, they'll probably never have met an army that wasn't composed of horse archers like themselves."

After a bit, the Mongols rode off.

"Are they leaving for good?" Kate asked.

"No." Urus replied glumly. "They've gone off to think about this and try to come up with better tactics. They'll be back. Probably tomorrow."

Indeed, that night they could clearly see the camp fires of the enemy army. They also received arrows from the darkness which did little damage, but served to keep everyone in Castle's army jumpy and disrupt their sleep.

When the sun rose again, the Mongols were now arrayed in one vast mass to the north of them.

"Aha!" Cried Urus. "They've decided to try to mass against one part of our line and try to break through. That just night work, if they're willing to take the casualties."

Castle gathered his messengers around him and sent them off to the troops to the south, east and west. Soon small bands of archers and crossbowmen were reinforcing the north.

"I hope like hell they don't have more horsemen. If they hit one of the sides I've weakened, they could break through."

Urus shook his head. "No, that fat Mongol bastard is going to try to run over us with everything he has." Castle felt better until Urus added, "I think."

The Mongol cavalry formed up knee to knee, well out of bowshot. Then the drums began beating and they charged. As soon as they were in range, Castle's men fired. They hardly had to aim at all since any arrow or bolt would find a target in the mass of fierce horsemen charging them. Many fell and others were unhorsed as they ran over dead and wounded men and horses. But the screaming mass kept coming.


	13. Chapter 13

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

Horses are mostly sensible animals. When confronted with what appeared to the horses to be a solid wall, the horses' natural tendency was to stop. But, with their riders whipping them and with the press of the horses behind them, the great mass crashed into the English line. Some Mongols rode clear, but most were stopped in a swirling frenzy of individual battles. The armored knights who were afoot and the more heavily armored of the infantry did great execution among the unarmored Mongol horse archers. The crossbowmen, with pavises to give them cover and with some armor suffered, but generally did better than their enemies. However, the archers and the light infantry, who had little armor beyond a helmet or perhaps a thick leather coat began to suffer.

Urus led his own horse archers forward and they shot into the ranks of the Mongols, inflicting further casualties, but suffering their own losses.

That was when Richard Castle led his mounted knights through his lines to the west and rode around the Mongols to attack them from the rear. At first, the Mongols were unaware that they had a new enemy behind them and continued to fight. Gradually, it became apparent that they were trapped between two forces. First, in ones and twos and then in greater numbers, the Mongols fled.

Castle stopped his men, remembering that one of the horse archers' favorite tactics was the feigned flight, luring a small enemy force away from the main body, then turning on it savagely. As Castle led his armored knights back, the foot soldiers came out to finish off any wounded Mongols and loot the dead.

He rode to Urus. "Do you think they'll go away now?"

Urus shook his head. "No. You're a problem for them that they don't know how to solve. If they've come all the way from Mongolia, they don't know what's ahead of them. There could be a dozen armies like this one just over the horizon. Or, perhaps a really big army just like this one headed for them. They're going to sit down and think about how to take us tonight."

"If they try to attack us from two directions instead of just one, they could break through. Or, they could divide their army into two parts and ride around us so we'd never know where they were going to strike. That way I couldn't take troops from one part of the army to meet the threatened side."

"Let's hope they don't think of that." Urus muttered.

Castle did his best to prepare for the next day. The archers pounded sharpened stakes into the ground that the Mongol's horses would run into, but they didn't have that many stakes and the treeless steppe provided no wood. They did dig small holes in the ground that would break horses' legs when they stumbled into them. They also put out caltrops, four metal spikes welded together so that one spike was always upright.

"The problem is, when we move, we'll have to dig up the stakes and pick up the caltrops. "Castle said. "That'll take time and expose our men to the enemy."

"You'll think of something." Kate said.

Castle wasn't so sure.

There was no attack for two days, although the Mongols remained near and kept Castle's army under close observation. However, Castle had his men pull up the sharpened stakes and recover the caltrops. In those two days, they were able to advance only three miles.

"At this rate, we'll run out of water and beer long before we reach safety." Castle said that night when he gathered his captains together. "Does anyone have any ideas?"

Jock Tait of Teviotdale, the commander of Castle's mounted heavy cavalry, spoke.

"We could attack them. That's one thing they won't be expecting."

Urus shook his head.

"Not a good idea. If we attack in the daytime, their scouts will see us and the Mongols will retreat. They're all horsemen, while our army is limited by the speed of our infantry. If we attack at night...Too many things can go wrong, the horse would get separated from the foot, different groups would lose contact in the dark. We could be defeated in detail."

Tait nodded. "True. Quite true. But suppose you took your horse archers out just before dawn, with whatever of our light horse might be useful and attacked them. Not a full assault, just ride in quickly, raise hell and ride back out just as quickly. It'd give them something to think about."

Urus stroked his jaw. "That might work. If they think we have too many tricks, they might leave. Let me think on it."

Urus had no time to think, however. Just before dawn, the sentries called out that the Mongol army was on the move again, headed for them.

Rick, Kate, Alexis, Urus and several of Castle's captains watched as the Mongols organized themselves.

"I see what they plan." Urus said. "Those in front of us are the Mongol nobility, the ones with enough wealth to buy armor and sturdy horses to carry all that weight. The Mongol heavies will come straight at you and try to smash through your lines. The rest of the army, the horse archers, will wait just out of bowshot. If you lead your knights out like you did before, they'll attack your horsemen. Your own people will not be able to fire as they'll be as likely to hit their own men as not. If the Mongol heavies break through, the horse archers will pour into the camp."

Castle stared at the approaching host.

"I've faced French knights before. Those fellows don't have the armor or the steeds the French had. I doubt there are more than five hundred of them out there. I'll move a few bowmen and crossbowmen to the north. I'll just hope they don't attack elsewhere."

"Urus Khan," Lady Alexis said. "We have some gonnes, as well as powder and lead shot. Do you suppose those Mongols have seem gonnes before?"

"You have weapons using the fire powder from the land of the Chin?" Alexis nodded. "They may have seen such weapons, but their horses probably never have. The smoke and the fire will spook the horses."

Alexis turned to Rick. "Excuse me, but I need to go to my wagon. I already have some likely lads trained, and of course there's Jagwida and Lady Kate."

"Lady Kate is my most trusted advisor. She needs to remain by my side." Castle said quickly.

"Richard! I'm not some gently bred ninny who faints at the sight of blood. I have fought before and…" Kate stopped. Alexis was already riding off and her husband had his hand on her horse's bridle. "We'll talk of this later." She grumped.

Alexis and her hand gonners just made it to the northern perimeter of the army when the Mongol drums began beating. The gonners dismounted and pushed their way to spots where they were covered by pavises, or were able to get behind the more heavily armored soldiers.

The Mongol heavy cavalry began at a walk, then a trot, a canter and finally a gallop. As soon as they came within range, Castle's men poured arrows and crossbow bolts into the mass of men and horses. Some horses, shied away, but many headed straight for the men in front of them. Just in front of Castle's men the Mongol horses hit the holes and caltrops, and for the first time the impetus of the charge began to falter. It was then that Alexis and her gonners fired. The lead balls did little damage, but the smoke and flames frightened the leading horses, throwing everything behind them into confusion. Finally, the horses began slamming into the sharpened stakes and, screaming in pain, the horses thrashed around. The charge was stopped. Arrows and bolts were fired at point blank range and penetrated the Mongol's armor, or their unarmored horses. The dismounted knights and men at arms waded into the fray, using swords, axes and pole arms on their foes. The Mongol heavy cavalry, now much depleted, retreated. As usual, Castle's men ran out to finish off any wounded and loot the dead. One Irish spearman came back with a beautiful gold and emerald necklace that Urus said was from the Land of the Chin.

"How much would you say it's worth in say, Byzantine bezants?" Castle asked.

Urus gestured for the Irishman to come forward. Father Ryan helped by explaining to the man what was wanted of him.

Urus examined it. "I'd say at least a thousand Byzantine golden bezants."

Castle frowned. "I don't believe I have that much ready cash, but perhaps I can get something else for Kate."

Lady Alexis laughed. "You have easily ten times that much, Lord Castle. Haven't I been managing your finances for you? Along with Lady Kate, of course."

"Here? With my army?" Castle asked. He had never been rich and was shocked that he had that much gold.

"That's your personal wealth here with us, as opposed to the Turkish wealth we carry for our mission." Alexis replied. "There's more back in Istria and in various Italian banks. I can give you a full report tonight if you wish?"

Castle just nodded.

"Father Ryan, will you tell your compatriot that Lord Castle wishes to buy the necklace for Lady Kate and will pay him one thousand Byzantine gold bezants, here and now."

The man, overjoyed that a great lord would pay him for his loot, rather than just seizing it, agreed at once.

Kate blushed when Castle put it around her slim neck, but everyone agree it was beautiful.

Urus Khan looked at the remnants of the Mongol cavalry retreating back to their camp.

"As I said, the Mongol heavy cavalry is composed of their wealthiest nobility who can afford such heavy armor and fine horses. The survivors will not be happy with their commander for sending them into such a one-sided fight today. I think tonight might be a good time to pay them a visit."

He rode off to think and plan, returning to the Castle's tent just after dinner.

"My learned mullah advises me that the moon will rise about four hours after sunset. He has a book that predicts such things, but alas, we have no water clock or other device to tell time more precisely. But that should be sufficient. I'll take my men out before moonrise and ride slowly to their camp. Ah, and I will need some thick cloth to muffle the sound of the horses' hooves. We have some I believe?"

Both Rick and Alexis nodded. "We do." She said.

"You'll not take any of my men?" Rick asked.

"They are good men, but my men know each other by their horses, their clothing, their weapons and even their smell. Anyone else would seem an enemy to them. Best we leave your men behind. But you might have all of your horsemen ready if things don't go well and we need help."

"I'll lead them myself." Castle said, which brought a sigh from Kate.

"If Allah wills it, we can do some damage in our raid and ride back with moonlight to guide us back."

Urus and his men were ready in time. The weather was cooperating as well. Dark clouds covered the sky, blotting out even the starlight.

"Since you'll probably be riding back in a hurry," Lord Castle said to Urus, "I've cleared all the obstructions from one area. When we see you coming back, I have men ready with torches ready to be lit to show you, unless I need to go out and help you."

Urus laughed. "Ah, my good Christian friend, what great things we will do together. The stories they will tell about us. The men who will regret they were not here with us."

Castle nodded. "Gentlemen now abed in England will think themselves accursed and hold their manhoods cheap that they were not with us."

And then, off he rode, followed by his men.


	14. Chapter 14

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

Castle watched them riding off into the gloom until the last horseman was lost to his sight. For a quarter of an hour they heard and saw nothing. Then came screams and the sounds of battle. They could also see flames light up the night sky.

For another half an hour they had no idea what was happening, then a single rider rode up.

"Great Khan Castle," he said in broken Italian, "Allah good to us. Urus Khan come. Make light."

He had the torches lit and in minutes saw horsemen riding to them, Urus Khan in the lead. He stopped by Castle and his cavalry as his own horse archers rode in. In between shouting congratulations to his men as they rode in, he told Rick what had happened.

"Allah be praised, but this was a fine raid. Their sentries were either asleep or fools. We cut most of them down before one of them raised an alarm. We rode through part of their camp, killing as we went. We didn't kill as many as I'd have liked, but more than I expected. And we shot fire arrows into their tents, setting them alight. The fires also spooked their horses, and they ran. Not far, I fear, but they'll be looking for their horses for a bit." Urus Khan laughed heartily. "I am glad I have come with you for this adventure. It has been good."

The next day, Castle's army removed their defenses and, moving in a compact mass, headed east once more, going a bit faster than they had before. This time the Mongols followed them from over a mile away. They had learned not to attack English longbowmen and Genoese crossbowmen.

But, as they rode parallel to the English line of march, the Mongols yelled insults at them and made obscene gestures. In return, the English and Welsh archers raised their middle and index fingers in the air and waved them at the Mongols.

Urus Khan was puzzled. "Richard, I am familiar with the gesture of the middle finger, but why raise two fingers?"

"In our wars with the French, when they capture one of our archers, they chop off his index and middle fingers so that he may no longer pull back a longbow. Our archers have taken to waving those fingers at their enemies, saying in effect, if you want these fingers, then you must come and get them."

Urus laughed heartily. "Oh, I must remember that."

The Mongols followed them for two more days, then there was no sign of them. Urus sent out his scouts to find them. They returned smiling.

"God is great." Urus said. "My scouts report that all there is of the Mongols is a cloud of dust to the west. They hope to find easier quarry there."

The army still marched in a dense defensive mass after that, but were able to travel much faster.

Finally, they reached the River Don.

Castle rode up to where Urus Khan was sitting on horseback with his scouts. He was followed closely by Lady Kate, Lady Alexis, Huw of Llandovery, Father Ryan and two dozen other mounted men as their guards.

Castle looked at the scene below them and sighed.

"The Mongols were here before they ran into us."

The small city had once been defended by a stout wooden palisade with towers every fifty yards. They were now blackened ruins. Inside the city itself there were a few brick or stone buildings still standing. Anything built of wood had burned. Crows and other carrion eaters circled over the city and swooped in to feed. The scent of death hung in the air.

"Send in your scouts, if you will, Urus Khan. I doubt if anyone survived, but we should look."

Urus nodded and sent his men in.

The search found one living survivor, a large black dog with a wound in its side. Lady Alexis took charge of the beast and took him to her tent to heal.

"Are there any boats here?" Kate asked,

"My men found none. "Urus replied. "Anyone with access to a boat would have fled, I doubt any will be in a hurry to return here soon."

"Can we cross this River Don here?" Castle asked.

Urus Khan shook his head. "This is where the River Don flows into the Black Sea. The land hereabouts is a vast delta, half land, half water and all difficult to cross. We'd lose some men, but many horses and I don't know how we'd get our wagons across."

"Damn it!" Castle growled. "Why couldn't we have just been landed here by the Venetians. We'd have saved time, avoided a pointless battle and might have saved the town."

"Richard," Kate said softly," Hamid had to return his fleet and troops to the Sultan. He left the Venetian fleet where their enemies, the Genoese, could keep an eye on them. If we'd had the Venetians sail us here, they'd have landed us and had no reason not to go back to Venice, or elsewhere to cause trouble."

"I know. I know, love. I was just angry." Castle stood in his stirrups and surveyed the scene. "We can camp here. We can chain or rope our wagons together and turn them into a small fort for the army. We'll send out light cavalry to scout the area. We had hoped to buy food, horses and other supplies here, but there must be other places around here, small towns, farms, perhaps someone even has some boats we could use, or knows of a ford."

Groups of cavalry rode out the next morning, and did so for several days. They found little. Smaller towns and farms had been burned, the people and animals killed, and what crops had been about had been destroyed or eaten by the Mongols or their horses.

The leader of a patrol of Irish hobelars spoke to Castle after his patrol.

"My Lord, we found but enough grain in a ruined farmstead to feed our horses and bring back some sacksful for the army. All the animals we found were dead, horses, cows, and pigs. There were wells, but all were choked by the bodies of the dead. We found no boats, but we did see a few men so very briefly in the marshes by the river, but they ran and we could not follow them. The Mongols wasted this land as bad as I have ever seen, even in my years in France."

"Thank you, Rogan, you have done as well as could be expected. I doubt if any man, woman or child will come out of those swamps when armed men are about for a good long time."

After the hobelar captain had left, Lady Alexis spoke.

"There is still unburned wood in this town and we have nails from the burned buildings. We can make pitch and tar, and we have rope. We can build boats to take our men and horses across the river. We can disassemble the wagons and take our supplies and wagons across and rebuild them. We'll find food and whatnot beyond this ruined town."

Castle smiled.

"And you will be the shipwright who does all of this?"

Lady Alexis smiled back.

"Do you not recall seeing me half-naked and sweating when I had to show those idiot Italian metalsmiths how to make cannon?"

"I must not have been paying attention. I have eyes for only Kate since I first saw her."

That brought a laugh from Kate.

As it turned out, Lady Alexis had no need to become a shipwright. On the morning of the fifth day at the ruined city, a sentry woke Castle.

"My Lord, there are ships in the sea. They have stopped some distance off shore and are watching us."

"Do they appear hostile? How many are there? Do they have soldiers aboard?" Castle asked, throwing on his clothes.

"I see perhaps thirty ships of all sizes, not very large, but not small They have made no hostile moves, but the boats are very crowded, some appear to be warriors."

Castle strode down to the beach to see for himself. He was soon joined by Ladies Kate and Alexis, Urus Khan and their principal officers.

"The boats are crowded, Lord Castle. "Said Huw of Llandovery. "Very crowded. I imagine they need food and drink by now, but they are afraid we are more Mongols, or other raiders."

Castle thought for a moment.

"Urus Khan, could you move your troops back from the beach? And bring our flags forward, especially the Flag of the Saint Katherine's Company of England, and all of the other banners that have Christian imagery. Let them know we are Christians."

"Not that Christians don't kill their own kind." Jock Tait of Teviotdale muttered.

"And get our fair haired and red haired Irish, Welsh, Scottish and English troops to the beach so that they can see we're Europeans."

All was done as Lord Castle had ordered and after what seemed to be an argument aboard the largest boat, a smaller boat headed for the shore although very slowly. The boat beached and a tall, powerfully built, fair haired man with a beard to his belt stepped onto the shore and advanced towards Castle. The boat quickly backed its oars and retreated to sea.

The man stopped in front of Castle and said something that Castle did not understand. Alexis tried to speak to him in her best French, Father Ryan tried Irish Gaelic, and Jock of Teviotdale tried Scots Gaelic. A Flemish crossbowman tried German and a mounted Croat stradiot tried Greek and other Balkan tongues, with no success. Gehlen was called upon, but he was unable to communicate with the man.

Finally, a man of Rus descent serving with the crossbowmen of the Genoese, Ludovico Canella, was found who could talk to the man. However, the Rus's Italian was only suitable for gambling, wenching and following military orders. Finally, a Genoese officer of his company was found who spoke a bit of the Rus language and the two managed to translate for Castle.

The Genoese officer, after a long three-way conversation spoke to Castle.

"My Lord, this is Rolf Blood Axe, a noble of the Rus who lives far to the north. His people are descended from the Northmen who once overran so much of this land."

Rick nodded," Ours as well. We were invaded and conquered by Normans who came originally from the land of his ancestors some three centuries past."

The captain nodded. "He said that he sailed down the river to trade furs and other goods for goods from over the seas. I am sorry, but I don't know the words for what he wanted to buy. When the Mongols breached their defenses, he took his people and all the others he could carry and left. Everyone with a boat did the same. He says the Mongols know nothing of the sea and could not follow. He wants to know who we are and what our intentions are."

Castle had the officer explain who Castle was, described his army and explained his mission to Rolf Blood Axe. All of this took time and Blood Axes' answer took longer to translate.

"My Lord, he says he believes we are a Christian army and are not his enemy. He knows the land of the Caucasus that we head for, but says his boats are too small and too few to carry us there. However, he can ferry us across the River Don, but he wants something in return."

"Tell him we have gold and will pay him well for his services."

"That's not all he wants."


	15. Chapter 15

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

"What more can we do for him?"

"He wants to come with us. He says he has fifty of his men who can fight as well as any, and there are more warriors from the city with him, perhaps two hundred and fifty. Not a great number considering the size of our army, but these are men who know the area we go to and can be of help, or so he says."

Castle thought for a moment. "Would you please ask Lord Blood Axe why he wishes to fight another man's war when so much has been lost here?"

There was more talking back and forth before a clear, or at least reasonably clear, answer was found.

"He has several reasons. Most of his goods were still on his ships when the Mongols arrived. Now he has nothing to buy and no one left alive to sell to here. If he can get to the Caucasus with his goods, he can trade there and become richer."

Castle nodded.

"Secondly, "said the Genoese officer, "the people he saved are friends and business associates, plus artisans with valuable skills. However, they cannot remain here and try to rebuild. The city has been destroyed and many people killed. They are too few and too poorly armed to fight off the gangs of raiders that infest the area. He says that this is a perfect place for a port to transfer the products of the interior to seagoing ships. People will eventually come here for that and build a strong, safe city. And he will then be able to once again trade with that city. But in the meantime, these people need somewhere to go."

The officer smiled. "In addition, Lord Blood Axe says he and his men are warriors as we are. Why not fight?"

"Lord Castle, "Lady Alexis said softly, "would it be acceptable to Lord Blood Axe if I handled the financial negotiations?"

The question was put to Lord Blood Axe and his answer was obviously positive.

"However, I think we need to show our new friend just how powerful an army we are. We should assemble the troops as if for a battle array for tomorrow and ask Lord Blood Axe to have his people come ashore for food and drink tomorrow."

Once that was translated, Lord Blood Axe agreed.

That night, Rolf Blood Axe downed an astonishing amount of beer, wine and brandy, not to mention food, before finally collapsing in Castle's tent. Castle had him carried to another tent to sleep it off. However, the next morning, Blood Axe was up at dawn, bellowing out to sea. Eventually, the same small boat that had brought him ashore the day before returned and took him back to his small fleet. There was more arguing, and a great deal of bellowing by Blood Axe, before the ships began to head for shore and beached themselves.

Castle was amazed at the number of people who staggered off of the boats, and was shocked at how hungry they looked. He quickly distributed bread, cheese and meat to the newcomers as well as beer. The people, who had looked frightened and sullen before, began to smile and speak among themselves.

"Lord Richard," Alexis called to him, while leading a pretty young girl to him, "we're in luck. This is Anna, who I find speaks both excellent Italian and the tongue of the Rus. She can translate for us now."

"What of her parents?" He asked.

"Dead."

"In that case, I hereby appoint you her mother."

Alexis smiled. "I've already assumed that position." She took Anna's hand and spoke to her in Italian. "Come little one. You now serve the great Lord Richard Castle, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in all of Christendom. You will eat and be clothed as befits one of your new station." Alexis led Anna off.

Urus Khan had wandered among the boats that had been beached. He came to report to Castle.

"Richard, I have seen these boats before. They are river boats, but the Don is a broad and deep for far, far to the north, so the boats are quite large for river craft. And, they are designed to carry cargo and people, even horses. We shall be able to transfer the army to the other bank of the river quite easily. The boats are designed for traffic on the rivers of this land and not on the open sea, even such a small sea as we have here. This means they are flat bottomed so that they can be drawn up on beaches at night or when they wish to trade with places that have no harbor or wharves. And so, in any kind of sea way they will roll and pitch terribly."

"I spoke with an elderly Moslem who has lived here for many years. He says Blood Axe, for all of his barbaric ways and violence, has been an honorable man and has traded honestly with the people in this land. He did say that Blood Axe intends to stay aboard his ships until we reach this Caucasus. Perhaps he fears more raiders, or perhaps he fears us, but my new friend does say that Blood Axe does need to sell his cargo in order to return home and the best market now is in the Caucasus. Blood Axe carried not only his own goods but goods from other powerful Rus nobles in the north. Should he fail to sell them, he would be ruined, his lands and his goods would be taken to satisfy his debts."

Castle smiled.

"So we can trust him to stay with us at least until he's sold his goods?"

Urus smiled back. "Precisely."

Lady Alexis began her negotiations with Lord Rolf Blood Axe for the gold to be paid to him for his help that night. The negotiations always seemed to take place in Lady Alexis' tent, and at night. Alexis explained that Blood Axe was needed aboard his ships to manage things during the day. However, Castle noticed that Blood Axe seemed tired and groggy during the day and was often seen fast asleep on the deck of one of his boats. Lady Alexis always seemed to be bright and cheerful in the mornings. Castle decided he would not enquire as to her methods.

The army lined up in battle array the next day and displayed their military skills. If Blood Axe was impressed with the size, training, armament and organization of Castle's army, he did not betray it. However, Castle was sure the Rus knew he now had a very powerful associate. That was enough for Castle.

It took nearly a week of round the clock sailing to transfer all of the army to the far bank of the River Don, but it was done with the loss of a few non-swimmers who fell overboard, the loss of more horses and the loss of some supplies. Blood Axe seemed quite happy with the compensation he'd received for his services, what ever that compensation had been.

With Blood Axe's ships sailing off shore, Castle's army headed for the nearest town of any size to the east, a largely Rus place called Kolya.

"The Mongols didn't take this place." Castle said, bringing his horse to a halt on the beach looking across at Kolya. The city was on an island some hundreds of yards off shore. The only way to enter the city from the shore was a long wooden bridge, but the floorboards of the bridge had been taken up and apparently taken into the city.

The city itself was surrounded by a high stone wall. Not as high as those of say Pola, or Spolato, but high enough. Towers with many archers' slits stood proud of the wall. Atop the walls were armed men in great numbers. Hardly as many as Lord Castle had in his army, but enough to raise havoc with any besieging force.

As they watched, the men on the walls unfurled their banners and chanted what appeared to be prayers, also slamming their spears against their shields.

"They don't appear too friendly." Alexis commented.

"Not at all." Castle replied with a smile.

A small boat shot out from the small fleet of Rolf Blood Axe and headed for Castle, with Blood Axe standing in the bow. He leapt ashore and strode purposely to Castle.

"I've talked to a fisherman from here who's boat we met last night." He said through the new interpreter. "He says the Mongols came here, but couldn't do anything but swim their horses up to the city walls and get shot at from those above them. The Mongols contented themselves with capturing anyone outside the city and torturing them to death in full view of the city. But, they know me here and many men that I have with me have friends and relatives here. I'll sail in and talk to them." Blood Axe turned and walked back to his boat.

"He could just sail in and stay there." Urus said thoughtfully. "He has no real reason to come back out to us. He can trade here and then go back north."

Lady Alexis shook her head. "He's greedy for gold. He'll make an arrangement with the city to provide us with food, animal fodder, horses and arms and take a percentage for himself."

"Why do you think he'd do that?" Castle asked.

"Who do you think suggested it to him?" Alexis replied with a cheery smile. "It'll cost us a bit more gold, but we'll get what we need."

Several hours later, Blood Axe came out of the city in his boat and reported to Castle.

"They won't let your army in the city, you're far to powerful, but they will set up a market on the beach near here. I've given them a list of our needs, kindly provided to me by Lady Alexis, but doubtlessly many others will come to offer their wares. I've told them that I have personally seen the great treasure you carry from the Sultan, the Pope, and the Kings of France and England. They are greatly impressed, but mostly they are impressed with the chance to get rich." Blood Axe laughed. "But who isn't?"

Then he got serious. "However, the town assembly, which consists of the city's wealthiest men wish to speak with you."

"Excellent!" Lady Alexis said quickly. "We shall invite them to a feast tomorrow evening after we have purchased sufficient items from their market. We will add the fine wines and brandies that we carry and I promise that our chefs will amaze them."

Blood Axe nodded and returned to his boat and then to the city.

Castle turned to Alexis.

"We have gold from not only the Sultan, but from the Pope and the Kings of both England and France? Did I somehow miss something?"

"We do have a great deal of gold, and it seemed a shame to let poor Rolf think it came from just one source. Besides, the locals are used to today's friends becoming tomorrow's enemies and vice versa. They have no trouble imagining the Sultan and the Pope joining forces, or the Kings of France and England working together."

"And we have fine chefs, not to mention wines and brandy?"

"Of course. Haven't you noticed a marked increase in the quality of your daily meals? After all, Lord Castle must be presented as the wealthiest and most powerful man in all of Christendom. I'm sure our golden plates and jewel encrusted goblets will impress these country bumpkins to no end."

"We have gold plates and jewel encrusted goblets?"

"I didn't take many and I'm sure the Byzantine Emperor won't miss a few. He has thousands." Alexis bowed low, allowing her breasts to nearly fall from her dress. "Now if you will excuse me, I must go make arrangements."


	16. Chapter 16

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

Castle watched her ride off, trailed by her mostly female attendants.

"I'm awfully glad she's on our side." Castle whispered to Kate.

"She's on your side, Richard. You're probably the only man in her whole life who's treated her decently, and the only one she's ever met that treats his wife as a human being and not as a brood mare or a punching bag. And the kinder you are to others, the more she idolizes you."

Castle shook his head in wonder that acting as a good Christian should was so unusual as to attract that kind of loyalty.

Alexis spent the rest of the day arranging for the feast, sending her people to the market that had been set up with instructions as to exactly what to buy. She made sure the servants draped the dining tables with costly silks that had somehow been acquired for Lord and Lady Castle. The golden plates and goblets were cleaned. Alexis had learned that the Rus mostly ate with the fingers, so she forbade the servants from putting out the knives, forks and spoons she'd managed to find.

She spoke to the waitresses, all of whom were members of her intelligence staff, and all of whom were quite attractive.

"Keep your eyes and ears open. I know few of you speak the Rus tongue at all, but tone of voice, a glance a gesture can be important. There will be no tableware out tomorrow night, but keep an eye out for anyone trying to lift a plate or a goblet. I went to too much trouble to have some amateur thieves take them from Lord and Lady Castle. Now, my little doves, are we ready for tomorrow?"

The women all nodded and voiced their agreement.

"Then bathe yourselves tonight and I'll have clean garments for you tomorrow. You are now the servants of Lord Richard Castle. He is not just one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in all of Europe, but the kindest and most generous. His Lady, Katherine Castle, is a paragon of virtues and one of the best educated and most intelligent women there is. I aspire to be what she is and I want you to aspire to be as much like her as possible. Here, we are not drudges, sluts, or people who hide our abilities. Here we are women for whom anything is possible."

The women ran off to make ready.

In the meantime, Castle was busy preparing his army for the review by the city assembly. The horses were all groomed and reshod, even the nags and ponies that many of Castle's archers used simply to get from place to place at a pace faster than they could walk.

Spare armor and weapons were dragged out of storage in wagons and cleaned and polished. Then they were issued to such men who might be lacking in such. There were men, mostly archers, who objected. They normally went into battle clad in a simple helmet and a leather jerkin, armed with an axe or short sword. They felt that the extra weight of the armor and weapon limited their mobility if they had to face more heavily armored opponents.

"You'll bloody wear this tomorrow." Huw of Llandovery growled at a group of complainers. "These Rus have never seen proper archer before, but they know what armor and weapons look like. It'll go back in the wagons tomorrow."

The crossbowmen, both those who had served Castle for many years and the recently joined Genoese, also prepared themselves. It was the custom of the crossbowmen to paint their pavises with likenesses of saints or the coats of arms of the towns they came from. Accordingly, the men touched up their pavises where they had been damaged in the long march and the fights.

Jock Tait of Teviotdale, the leader of Castle's heavy cavalry, had his men polish their armor until it glowed. He had his own horse's long mane tied with colorful cloths as he had seen many light cavalrymen do. The light cavalrymen, noticing this, added more cloths to their mounts and to themselves, some braiding feathers into the manes.

Urus Khan's men, who enjoyed reputation of being a rough and tough army, looked at the others and decided to do the opposite. Armor was scuffed and clothing was carefully ripped and then dirtied. The horses were also allowed to acquire burrs and dirt from the steppe. When they were done, they felt that they looked far more imposing than their cleaned-up comrades.

The army was all lined up in battle array when the members of the assembly arrived. In the center stood the heavily armored, but dismounted knights and men-at-arms, along with such infantry that was well armored and armed. To either side of them were the masses of archers and to the side of them were the crossbowmen, all behind their painted pavises. The light infantry then provided a connection between the rest of the army and the light horse. Urus Khan's horse archers were on one side and Castle's own light horsemen on the other. In front of the army, instead of their usual place behind the army and in reserve, were Castle and his own mounted knights, mounted on massive warhorses and clad in gleaming plate armor.

At the very front was Lord Richard Castle with Lady Kate and Jock of Teviotdale. Just behind them was the banner of Castle's army, the Company of St. Katherine of England. Any who looked would see that the beautiful face on the banner belonged to Lady Kate.

The assembly were well mounted and well dressed. As they arrived in front of Castle, Lady Alexis and Anna, their new interpreter rode out and translated Castle's words of greetings. Anna then translated a long and boring speech in which a stout man with a large beard and belly who greeted Castle and praised his army.

Alexis edged closer to Castle as Anna made a reply to the speech.

"They're trying the same thing that the people of Spolato tried on us some years ago. Their assembly is too frightened of us to come out themselves, so they've dressed some underlings up in their finery and mounted them. Look. Not one in ten has clothing that fits properly, and the riding? I've seen sacks of potatoes that have a better seat than those fellows."

"Should I be insulted?" Castle asked.

Alexis smiled and shook her head. "No. These people will be much more easily fooled. Oh, and I found two more girls on the boats who speak Rus and other languages we can understand. They'll be at the feast tonight, listening when the fools think our only Rus speaker isn't about."

Castle was a bit embarrassed to ask the next question.

"Do you require that the women that serve in my household…Um, give themselves to men to gather information?"

"No, Lord Castle, but these women happily give themselves to men, _if_ the men deserve them. I have taught them that there is great joy in the carnal act, as I have found myself. Any who do not wish to partake are given other duties. I force no woman to act as she would not."

Castle felt much relieved.

The Rus so-called assemblymen had never seen an army quite like Castle's. On the open steppe, armies were composed solely of mounted horse archers with a scattering of wealthy nobles armed as heavy cavalry. Most of the assemblymen viewed the infantry as no more than targets for any army of horse archers, who could attack and then retreat out of range before the men on foot could get near them.

Castle decided to give them a demonstration similar to the one he'd arranged for the people of Pola back when he was but a humble captain of archers. He gathered a series of hay bales and put them at long range for his archers and crossbowmen.

"Lords of the Assembly of the City of Kolya, " he said through Anna, the interpreter, "you know of the range of the composite bows used by horse archers. However, to be used on horseback, the bow must be smaller than that carried by a man on foot and, as a horse moves, not as accurate. I will now have my men, using the English warbow and the crossbow, demonstrate the range and power of our weapons. Please observe the row of hay bales placed at a distance that would normally keep horse archers safe from enemy fire."

Castle turned to Huw of Llandovery. "Huw, if you would?"

"Archers! Crossbowmen! Loose! " Huw roared.

Castle's men loosed a storm of arrows and crossbow bolts at the hay. In under two minutes, the hay bales were thick with missiles.

"Please feel free to go forward and observe the results for yourselves." Anna announced.

The men were very impressed as were the real assemblymen back in Kolya when the received reports of the event. Not so happy were the archers and crossbowmen who had to retrieve all of their missiles. Lord Castle did not intend to waste any of his precious weapons.

At the beginning of the feast that night, Castle looked over the large tent in which it was to take place. He noticed that Alexis had somehow managed to hire a small band of musicians from the city who sit in the rear playing merry tunes. Castle smiled to himself. He shouldn't wonder that Lady Alexis had managed to find musicians. He imagined that if he told her that he needed a cathedral on the morrow, he'd walk out of his tent to find one before him, complete with an Archbishop and a choir.

As the feast continued, he found himself sitting next to a tall, spare, older man with white hair and a wispy beard. Castle looked over the man, taking in his well- fitting clothes, his relaxed demeanor and his familiarity with the choice foods served.

"If you don't mind my asking, sir, who are you? You appear to actually be one of the assembly of the wealthy and powerful of Kolya. Unlike the gentlemen with you whose clothes don't fit properly and who seem unaccustomed to good food."

The man frowned at Castle, then smiled.

"You are a very observant man, Lord Castle. I am Michael Chernigov, and I am a member of the assembly. My fellows feared to put themselves in your power, but I felt such a powerful man as yourself would not bother with such a small place as Kolya, so I came in person. I find you a most interesting man, Lord Castle."

"In what ways?"

"You are a soldier, the most brutal of men, yet you seem to be an educated and cultured man, and I am surprised to find that you have two women as your closest advisors."

"I'm sure they will be shocked to find they have been unmasked by you so easily. Most men think them as mere decoration. You are also very observant."

Chernigov laughed. "Not at all. I merely listened to Blood Axe when he got drunk. Which he does with great frequency. I also find it odd that your army is mostly Christian. Most follow the Bishop of Rome, and the rest the Patriarch in Constantinople. However, you have Muslims in your service as well. And most surprisingly, this Christian army serves the Sultan of Turkey. Why is this?"

Castle took a drink to assemble his thoughts.

"There is a saying: The enemy of my enemy is my friend. In the past, the Sultan has found that my liege lord, Rodrigo, Duke of Istria, and he have had common enemies. Now faced with a powerful enemy, Tamerlane, he looks for allies. We recall that a century ago the Mongols conquered everything to the east, sent armies into Poland and Hungary and even saw a small force reach the Adriatic Sea, the same sea that washes my new home of Istria. We Christians have no desire to face a new Mongol Empire by ourselves."


	17. Chapter 17

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

Chernigov nodded and stroked his beard.

"So, you believe that Timur the Lame, or Tamerlane, as he is called, is that powerful?"

"The Sultan believes so. And he believes it strongly enough to have paid for a large Christian army to cross from Europe to Asia to make common cause with the Christians in this Caucasus."

Both men took a long drink of wine.

"You, and the Sultan, may be right, Lord Castle. Timur has smashed any and all opponents in his own land and has either destroyed them or caused them to flee in terror. Now he breaks other tribes and lands and sends their remnants scurrying for safety. The Mongol army that came here, that you later fought, was once a powerful Mongol tribe that could put tens of thousands of warriors in the field. Most now lie headless on the vast steppes far to the east. There are yet more armies and tribes who flee Timur. Most, however, won't stop until they can go no further."

Chernigov suddenly looked across the tent.

"My nephew, the one in the ill-fitting green robe, is beginning to enjoy himself with one of your serving women. I need to stop him before he tells what little he knows to her. _Salaam_, Lord Castle."

The army remained at Kolya for a week, preparing for the next stage of their journey. Cattle and sheep were purchased and slaughtered, then salted or smoked and put into barrels. Fish were similarly treated. Some live animals were to be taken along so as to have fresh food. Vegetables and fruits were gathered, some dried and some left to ripen naturally. Beer and wine were accumulated as water could and many times would, cause stomach problems. The sick and wounded were treated both by Castle's men and the doctors and chirurgeons of Kolya. Not entirely trusting the Rus, Castle decided to take those still too sick or wounded with him. There was no one in the city who could fashion an English warbow in the time they had, but Castle found he could buy arrows and crossbow bolts in great number. A few soldiers purchased weapons and armor for themselves, but most were content with what they already had.

As they left the city, Castle discovered that they had additional people with them. Most, who sailed on Rolf Blood Axe's boats were those friends and business associates of his that had escaped the destruction of their city.

"Do you see any problems with this?" Castle, with Lady Kate beside him, asked Lady Alexis.

"No. They know of what we have done to the Mongol army and have seen us peacefully trade with Kolya. They will know of both our power and of our wealth. Few people despise wealth and I doubt the people of the Caucasus do."

"I have also noticed we have a few traders with us." Lady Kate mentioned.

"Much the same. And, these people are used to traveling overland to our destination. They will help guide us to our goal. In fact, I have engaged a young Georgian warrior to be our primary guide. His name is Niko Dadiani. He now rides with Urus Khan's scouts."

"I'd like to meet him." Castle said.

At noon, Dadiani and the scouts came in to report and to feed and water their horses. And themselves, of course.

"You are our scout?" Castle asked the young man.

He flashed a cheery smile to Castle and bowed. "Your servant, Lord Castle. I am Niko Dadiani."

Castle decided he was young, mid-twenties at best. But he was well mounted and Alexis had told him that the man had a string of equally good mounts as well as some pack horses to carry his gear. He was also well armed and armored. He wore a chain mail hauberk that ran from his neck to his knees, with a short jacket of lamellar armor over that and very stout leather riding boots that could possibly turn a sword blade and a steel helmet that covered his upper face, his ears and the back of his neck. His horse had a curved piece of steel plate over its muzzle and forehead with chain mail over its mane. Unusually, Castle thought, in addition to a long, straight sword, useful for both slashing and stabbing, be carried a lance and a composite bow.

The man was quite handsome, clean shaven, but with long curly locks peeping out from his helmet. His eyes were grey and seemed to smile.

"Tell me of yourself, Niko Dadiani. How do you come to be a scout?"

The man laughed. "I am more than a scout. I do whatever is needful to live. You see, my father has some acres south of the capitol of Georgia, Tbilisi. It is enough for my older brother and his family to live on when he inherits, but no more than that. My two sisters have married well, and my next older brother Georgi is a priest. But what was I to do? I had no desire to be a priest, so I decided to go out and see the world. I left my home eight years ago when I was seventeen and wandered. Luckily, my father gave me some good horses, good weapons and a bit of gold to see me on my way. I began as a caravan guard and became a sailor when I arrived at the Crimea. I sailed through the Black Sea and even to the Aegean. I would have gone across the Middle Sea, the Mediterranean, but our ship ran onto a rock and sank. I lived with a monastic community for year and became more than just literate. I served as a soldier for a pretender to the Byzantine throne and for the Emperor when the pretender was defeated and killed. I left Constantinople and took service on a river boat sailing up the Dnieper, then crossed to the Volga, then to the Don, and now here I am."

Castle nodded to Niko's weapons. "I have seen cavalry armed with lances, and I have seen cavalry armed with bows. You are the first person I've seen armed with both. Wouldn't carrying both interfere, the one with the other?"

"Unless one is very well trained, yes. Our people have been part of, or allied with, the old Roman Empire of a thousand years ago, and their successors, the Byzantines. They were able to recruit and train regiments of cataphracts, very heavy cavalry, that were equally adept with the lance and the bow. I merely try to imitate them."

Castle saw that Urus Khan's men were ready to patrol in front of the army again, and let Niko go.

The army was now on their last lap and one day they were able to see the Caucasus Mountains rising ahead of them.

"There, Kate. The land of the Caucasus. We have come all the way from Istria to the beginning of Asia. When I left England as a young man, I never imagined I would travel so far."

"I imagined I would always live in Pola and would marry, raise my children and die there. But as long as I am with you, my life is perfect."

Castle smiled. "Nothing I have seen in all my travels, nor in any travels I may have though I should go to the ends of the Earth could possibly compare to you, my love."

The scouts reported that small units of mounted men were scouting them, but rode swiftly away if the scouts rode towards them and using their superior knowledge of the local terrain, soon disappeared. Niko Dadiani opined they were Georgian scouts and Urus Khan and his men agreed.

"They'll have heard were coming, Richard." Urus growled. "Enough people have tried to conquer them in the past that they'll keep a close eye on anyone headed their way. A dozen elderly nuns would attract their attention, not to mention an army the size and power of this one. Let them watch us in peace. We want them to know we mean them no harm."

The next day the scouts and Niko came in to report to Lord Castle.

"We've reached the first Georgian outpost, Lord Castle." Niko said. "There is a fort on a hill perhaps five miles from here. Below the hill are a dozen cavalrymen, who wait for us. As I am a Georgian, I would like to speak to them on your behalf."

"An excellent idea." Lady Alexis said at once. "I shall go with you. When the Georgians see that they are confronted with nothing but a poor, weak woman, they will know that our intentions are peaceful."

Everyone managed to keep a straight face at Lady Alexis describing herself as poor and weak, when she was anything but.

Niko smiled and nodded. "It would be a pleasure to have you accompany me, great lady."

Lady Kate decided that it would be inappropriate for a lady to ride alone with a man, so Anna was to accompany her. Then Alexis said that two ladies would need a male chaperone. Father Ryan was chosen for that position.

Soon, the four rode off.

Castle, Lady Kate, Urus Khan and several of Castle's officers rode to the top of a small hill from which they could observe the meeting and get a glimpse of the Georgian fort.

"I'd not like to have to take that fort." Castle said after gazing at it for a minute.

"Nor I." Urus added. "The sides of the hill are practically vertical. The only way to attack would be along the ridgeline to our right."

Huw of Llandovery stood in his stirrups to get a slightly better view. "I would guess the top of the ridge is no more than a dozen yards wide. Enough for three or four horses if you're a Mongol or ten or so infantryman. They'd be shot to pieces."

"It's small." Urus said. "You could besiege it. Starve them out. I doubt they have a water source there."

"There'll be more such fortresses on even taller mountains ahead of us. We need to remember we're here to help these people, not fight them." Castle said.

"Assuming they see things our way." Muttered Jock Tait of Teviotdale.

Their conversation was broken up by the approach of Niko and his party.

"Lord Castle, they know who you are and what your mission is. They have told me that you are welcome in this land as long as you bring peace and not war."

Castle nodded. "War may be coming to this land no matter what our intentions are. Did you mention that to them?"

Niko nodded. "They know. They told me that there is an embassy from Tamerlane in the capitol as we speak. They seem a bit overbearing and are not overly popular, but powerful men who disburse gold can get many things overlooked."

"Exactly what I hope to show your people."

Niko laughed.

"There is a small river two miles further on. It runs cold and clear, fed by melting snow in the mountains and carries no sickness. We should camp there for the night. It will be good for man and animal alike."

Castle checked the position of the sun. "Two miles? We could ride for three or four hours after that."

"And camp with no water." Niko replied.

"Two miles it is."

They stopped at the river and Lady Alexis supervised the setting up of the Castle's tent and headquarters. She organized the cooks, brought out wine and had a fire made for cooking and one to heat water for the Castle's bath. After an early life of poverty and filth, Alexis found she enjoyed bathing herself. She especially enjoyed bathing with another person. Or perhaps two.

After dinner, Alexis gathered the Castles and their principal officers and advisers around her.


	18. Chapter 18

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

"We need to discuss what I know of the Georgia. The land is ruled by a Queen, called Tamar. In fact, she has been given the title_ mepe _which means king in their language. She is a strong, intelligent and very capable woman. She is also ruthless and determined to do her best for her country. Her husband was a great soldier, but he died in battle some ten years past. The Queen is now in her late forties or early fifties. She was considered to have been the most beautiful woman in Georgia as a young woman." Alexis paused and smiled. "But, then, who would call a powerful queen ugly?"

"Not us." Muttered Urus. "I have heard of her. She is still a beautiful woman."

Alexis continued. "She has two adult children, David and Rusudan. David takes after his father, or so they say, a military man, every bit as brave as his father, but not as experienced. Rusudan is beautiful like her mother, and is just as smart. There is another daughter, born just after the death of the old king, but I know little about her other than her name, Mariam."

"She is said to be very religious." Urus Khan said.

"Tamar's most trusted advisor is a priest named Father Georgi. He is said to have travelled both to the east and the west, and has amassed a great library. He corresponds with many, many people, with the help of secretaries, so he is the head of Queen Tamar's intelligence service."

"The Georgian version of you." Kate said, lightly.

Alexis smiled. "However, I have not taken vows of poverty or chastity. Just obedience."

Kate blushed.

"Father Georgi is dedicated both to Queen Tamar, and to Georgia. He is said to be honest, in that he does nothing to line his own pockets. However, he will lie, cheat, steal and kill to obtain what he wants for the good of Georgia."

"I congratulate you Lady Alexis." Castle said. "I am amazed that you have learned so much in the short time we have been in this land."

Alexis bowed. "I should point out that I began my work when we were all back in Pola, before we even accepted Lord Hamid's kind offer. I do wish to serve you well, Lord Castle."

Huw of Llandovery spoke. "It seems to me that we should make sure that both Lady Kate and Lady Alexis are seen to be valued advisors to Lord Castle."

"Lady Kate is not just my advisor, she is my partner in all things. Lady Alexis is my closest advisor other than Kate."

Urus laughed." if I know Tamerlane and his damned Mongols, and I do know them, they'll be treating every woman other than the royal family like slaves."

Alexis nodded. "That may be, but if Queen Tamar decides her interests and those of Georgia are best served by allying with Tamerlane, that will make no difference."

The meeting broke up with everyone having a great deal to think of that night.

By now they were heading almost due south. As they went, the land rose and soon they were in the mountains, including the highest mountain in all of Europe, Mt. Erebus, although no one had measured the height of mountains then. There were many, many mountains nearly as high and all were rugged. As Castle and his army passed these mountains, they could see powerful fortresses perched high above them.

"If the Georgians were to choose to fight, "Said Huw, "they could sit up there forever and keep the world at bay."

Urus Khan spat. "When Genghis Khan's troops came a century ago, the Georgians decided to fight. With great courage and no brains, the sallied out of their mountain homes to attack the Mongols. They were slaughtered."

"They'll not do that again."

A day later Niko rode in with a heavily bearded Georgian officer.

"Lord Castle, this is Duke Bagvashi, who commands the northern frontier defenses of Georgia."

Castle looked the man over. He was very well mounted and his horse tack was not just well made, but gilded. His armor and weapons were first rate, and appeared to be well used. Bagvashi himself was tall, broad shouldered, heavily muscled, and dark haired. He smiled readily at Castle.

"My Lord Castle," he said in accented but easily understandable Italian, "I bring you greetings from our great king, Tamar. She wishes you to understand that she understands the purpose of your visit and welcomes you. But not your army. I regret that I must ask you to travel to our capitol with your servants, and an armed escort as befits your station, two hundred men. Amir Bayan Salduz, the ambassador of the court of Khan Timur has his servants and an escort of two hundred men."

"Where is my army to be accommodated? I have many men. They will require food and drink."

Bagvashi smiled. "There is a fertile, well-watered valley not five miles ahead. Your army may camp there. We shall provide you with a market so that you may purchase what is necessary."

"Then let us proceed. However, I will need to see to setting up the army's camp and settle a few things. I trust that will be acceptable?"

The Duke smiled. "Of course."

"Oh. "Castle said, as if as an after-thought, "where is the army of Amir Salduz located?"

"The Amir arrived with only his escort. Our scouts find no troops within a hundred miles of Georgia."

Castle avoided smiling and turned his horse around.

The valley was as promised, in fact there were already a dozen wagons full of food and two herds of goats waiting for them.

"We have heard that the wealthy Lord Castle is bringing much gold to us." Niko said. "Half of Georgia will be here tomorrow."

However, everyone noticed that the far end of the valley was blocked by a grim looking wall that covered the entire end of the valley. From the number of troops on the wall, it was well garrisoned.

When his tent was set up and the army was well on its way to being settled in, Castle called his people together.

"I will take Lady Katherine, Lady Alexis, Father Ryan, and Urus Khan as my advisors, plus whomever Lady Alexis wishes to join us. My escort will be led by Jock Tait of Teviotdale and will consist of mounted knights. I think I'll keep our archers as a surprise for later. Huw of Llandovery will command the army in my absence."

Huw's head shot up when Castle announced this. He had not expected this honor.

"I won't fail you, Lord Castle."

"I'm sure you won't, and I'm sure you'll be busy. At its narrowest, the valley is a bit less than a mile across. I want you to build defenses all across the valley to stop any of Tamerlane's troops should they attack us here. Even if the Georgians decide to open their gates to them, they'll still have to get past us."

"What if the Mongols don't come by this pass?" Huw asked. "There have to be many passes through the mountains."

"Then we'll have to depend on Lady Alexis finding out where they will come."

Alexis just smiled then turned to Huw.

"Huw, I am sure that this Amir will send his men with sweet words and gold to try to bribe you and your men. So, I am leaving Anna here and a few others to keep you safe. Is that agreeable?"

Huw could hardly say that it wasn't.

The next day, Castle and his party headed south towards Tbilisi, the capitol, and their meeting with the Georgians. Castle had made sure that both Kate and Alexis rode with him, and Alexis had insured that both ladies were dressed in the finest silks and brocades, with suitable jewelry. Their servants were almost all female and those were well dressed in dark green skirts and jackets with yellow blouses.

"I thought it would be best if your servants were dressed in your livery." Alexis said as they rode.

"I was unaware that I had a livery for my servants to wear." Castle teased.

"You are a busy and important man, Lord Castle, you cannot see to every little detail."

Behind the servants were Jock Tait and the knights. Castle had made sure that the very best horses were issued to the knights, with excellent horse tack. He had decided that the armor should be well polished and the weapons clean and presentable, but not overly decorated. He wished the Georgians to see his men as fighters and not as overly decorated popinjays. He had seen too many gorgeously armored French knights overwhelmed by gangs of rough and ready English bowmen and spearmen.

Behind the knights was a long column of wagons carrying everything Castle would need to impress the Georgian court. And, of course, a great deal of gold.

Reaching the wall, Castle stopped to look at it as a massive iron gate was slowly opened to allow them passage. The wall looked much thicker and higher up close than it had from afar. The garrison paid them little attention.

With the gate now open, Niko led them through. They had gone some twenty-five feet when they had to make a sharp left turn. Now they were riding parallel to the wall.

"There are murder holes for archers to shoot through to our right." Castle announced. "As most men are right-handed, they will carry their weapons in their right hand and their shield in the left. The archers would slaughter them."

Alexis looked up. "There are holes above us as well. I assume they would drop boiling oil or water on their enemies. Perhaps red-hot sand as you did in Pola."

After riding for what seemed an eternity in the dark, stifling tunnel, the made a U turn and traversed a similar tunnel. Then, with another turn, there was a short ride to daylight.

They rode for four days. At first, the country was mountainous with only small upland glens where they could see sheep being pastured interspersed with small stands of pine and oak. As they rode further, the valley widened and farms began to appear. As the valley widened, so did the road which had a great deal of traffic going the other way.

"Everyone seems to be headed north." Castle said as a dozen wagons loaded with fruits passed them.

Niko laughed. "There is an army of over twenty thousand men and as many horses to the north, and it is well known that their leader has more gold than any man for a thousand miles."

"Those fruits looked good." Kate said. "It's close to noon. I propose that we stop for lunch when the next wagon load of fruit passes us."

"And the next wagon load of wine." Jock Tait said. "Fruit is well enough for women, but men need wine."

"You will find we make an excellent wine, and we have an excellent brandy." Niko told him.

Every night, when they were ready to stop, they found that their hosts had set up large tents for their guests complete with hot food, drink, soft feather beds to sleep on and warm furs to keep the chill of the night away. They also provided singers and musicians to entertain their guests after they had eaten.

Jock Tait was happy to find that their horses were as well cared for as the people.

"No sooner did I dismount than three grooms ran up to me and removed the saddle and bridle, curried my mount, and fed him. There's many a time I've been on a raid that I haven't had as good a meal as our horses have had. One of the grooms found one of our horses had a loose shoe. Before I could even kneel down to look, there was a farrier, ready to put on a new shoe."

Castle nodded. "Impressive, but it costs them little to be polite to us. They may be treating the emissaries of Tamerlane even better."


	19. Chapter 19

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

At their first stop, Lady Kate found something odd by her bed.

"A book?" Her husband asked.

"Yes. It's a book describing the travels of a Muslim called ibn Battuta through what seems to be most of the world, Africa, the Muslim world, the lands of the Hind and even the far distant Land of the Chin. He has apparently been to everywhere. But I wonder why they left it."

"It's a test." Lady Alexis said, entering the tent. "I found a similar book by my bed. We have made known that Lord Castle's foremost advisors are Lady Kate and myself. I'm sure _mepe_ Tamar is curious if that is true or whether we're just trying to curry favor with her by pretending to value the ideas of a woman. I imagine someone must have tried that on her before. If we're nothing but empty-headed ninnies, we'll ignore the books."

"Then I shall read the book tonight and take it with us tomorrow."

"Will you be reading all night?" Castle asked, with a pained expression on his face.

Kate laughed. "No, my love. I'll find plenty of time to make love to you as well."

"And I plan to make some notes in the margins of the book." Lady Alexis said. "I think he's made some errors concerning the countries about the Red Sea. That should show _mepe_ Tamar who she's dealing with."

Riding over a ridge days later, they saw the capitol of Tbilisi ahead. Castle reined in to take a good look. The city was perhaps as large as Pola, but over the years it had spread beyond the city's walls. In fact, some buildings were built right up against the walls, using the wall as part of their structure.

"That's dangerous." He said. "An enemy army could seize those buildings, put scaling ladders up and be over your walls before you knew it."

Niko just smiled.

"But the army would have to get here first. It took us four days to get here. Assume that an enemy would ride as fast as possible, we'd still have two days at least to tear down the buildings outside the city walls. Those buildings aren't so substantial, so they could be torn down easily enough."

Niko pointed ahead of them.

"There! Your escort to the palace is just leaving the city gates. That's Duke Nakani in the lead. He's a charming old duffer and you'll be in good hands. Speaks Greek, Italian and even some French. Now, since I've led you here, I consider my duties as your guide to be over. Do you agree?"

Castle nodded. "I agree. Has Lady Alexis paid you the agreed sum?"

Niko laughed loudly. "Believe me, Lady Alexis has paid me beyond anything I had ever imagined."

Kate blushed, Alexis smiled and Niko rode off.

Duke Nakani made a short speech welcoming Castle and his party to Tbilisi and escorted them into the city. They were taken to the palace where they were given lavish quarters.

"_Mepe_ Tamar knows that you will be tired from your very long journey, "Nakani told them, "and so you will rest tonight and see her tomorrow after the mid-day meal."

That night Castle and his advisors went over everything they wanted to say to _Mepe _Tamar and tried to think of every counter argument that she, or her advisors, might come up with. They were still worrying the next day when a page advised them that _Mepe _Tamar wished to see them.

They were led to a fair sized room somewhere in the rear of the palace. The room itself was quite Spartan, being a whitewashed rectangle with windows on one side looking out onto a garden. Castle didn't recognize the flowers in the garden, but the scent was sweet and enticing. Tamar and her advisors were seated behind a long table with their backs to the garden. Castle, Lady Kate, Lady Alexis, Father Ryan and Urus Khan were seated in comfortable chairs facing them. Wine, kept cold by ice brought down from the mountains, was readily available as were sweetmeats.

Castle and his party bowed low before sitting.

_Mepe_ Tamar introduced her party.

"This is my son, David. He is a military man."

David was young, perhaps in his mid-twenties, dressed all in black and wearing a well-worn sword. He nodded curtly.

"And my daughter, Rusudan."

Rusudan was dressed in white and was indeed a very beautiful young woman with long, glowing black hair, green eyes and a heart shaped face. She smiled, showing perfect teeth.

"This is my most trusted advisor, Father Georgi and his brother Niko."

Father Georgi was a rather stout, bearded fellow who looked at them with great interest. Niko was their guide.

Tamar was still a strikingly attractive woman with perfect skin, white teeth and only a few wrinkles around her eyes. She wore a simple green down and a small tiara on her head.

Niko spoke first.

"Tell me, Lady Alexis, did you suspect me at all?"

Alexis laughed. "Of course, I suspected you. I suspected everyone who joined us for the journey to Georgia as being in the pay of _Mepe_ Tamar. I also assumed that everyone who accompanied us would be interrogated by the _mepe's_ people and having no reason to protect us would tell all they knew." Her smile grew wider. "However, you always seemed too well armed and mounted to be some poor caravan guard and in spite of your claim to have spent a year being educated at some Greek monastery, you seemed to be too well educated."

Niko laughed.

_Mepe_ Tamar cleared her throat and picked up a piece of paper.

"It appears we are in the presence of Lord Richard Castle, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in Europe. He apparently has vast lands in England, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy. However, there seems to be no mention of Lord Castle until a few years ago, and no mention of his vast wealth or power."

Castle shrugged. "I, personally, have never claimed to be anything other than what I am and have always been: A simple soldier who has been fortunate on the field of battle. At the present time I do have an army of over twenty thousand men under my command and I have a good deal of gold courtesy of my liege Duke Rodrigo of Istria who has allied himself with the Sultan of Ottoman Turkey and bid me to come here to do his bidding. Is what I was before this of such great importance?"

Tamar nodded and picked up another sheet of paper.

"Lady Katherine Castle. You appear to be a very dangerous young lady. I understand that you have ridden into battle, armed and armored as a soldier and killed both men and women. Are you really so violent?"

Kate looked directly at Tamar.

"I will fight to protect my family and my home, but I vastly prefer the ways of peace to those of war."

Tamar's gaze next went to Lady Alexis.

"Did you find ibn Battuta's book worthy of you?"

Alexis shrugged. "My own travels have been entirely in Europe until I followed my Lord Castle here."

Tamar broke in. "Is not Lord Castle your brother? Or are you the sister of Lady Kate? There seem to be some confusion on this point."

"I am Lord Castle's adopted sister and I consider Lady Katherine to be my older sister in fact, if not in blood, and she is also my best friend. The best friend I've ever had. And to answer your question, I have talked to ship's captains who have sailed in the Red Sea and traded with the lands of Berenice, Ptolemais of the Hunt, Aden, the Land of Punt and other ports. Their descriptions seemed more accurate."

"And why do you serve Lord Castle so faithfully? You seem like a young woman who could do very well on her own without a male around."

Alexis smiled. "I have done quite well in the past by myself, but while I have had…_knowledge_ of many men, Lord Castle is the only man I have ever met who treats women as equals, should they not wish to pretend they are empty headed nothings. I find being with Lord Castle intellectually refreshing and a challenge to my own intellect."

Tamar turned back to Castle.

"And so you come here to try to begin a war between Georgia and Timur?"

He shook his head vigorously. "Not at all, _Mepe_ Tamar. Not at all. The Sultan of Turkey fears that Tamerlane will attack him, as he has attacked so many of his neighbors. Naturally the Sultan does not wish to be attacked, but if he is, he wishes to be victorious. There are two ways the Timurids can attack Turkey. One is the direct way, coming across the Land Between the Two Rivers, what used to be the Caliphate of Baghdad. The Sultan has concentrated his army there. But Timur may come by way of the great steppe, attack through the Caucasus and invade Turkey that way. The Sultan does not have enough troops to cover both areas. If he were to spit his forces, each army would be too weak to withstand Timur by itself and would be defeated. Accordingly, the Sultan has made an agreement with the Duke of Istria for an army, my army, to keep Timur from invading through Georgia. Of course, should Georgia feel threatened by Timur, I should be glad to assist you."

David spoke. "We have heard a bit about the English and their wars with the French, but these countries are very far from us and little known. Can you tell us a bit about the wars you have fought in and about your own army?"

Castle began a long discussion of the battle of Poitiers, which he had personally been in, and also gave a brief discussion of the naval battle of Sluys, and the battle of Crecy, where, as at Poitiers, English longbowmen decimated the flower of French chivalry. He also discussed the many raids, called chevauchees, that he had taken part in. Both Prince David and Father Georgi took detailed notes.

When Castle was done, Tamar spoke.

"Thank you for your information, Lord Castle. It was most interesting. We shall consider how to respond to you, and to the representative of Tamerlane, Amir Bayan Salduz."

As the days passed, it appeared that _Mepe_ Tamar was in no hurry to decide. On the surface, all was friendliness in the court of Tamar. Salduz, unlike most Mongols was a rather chubby man who dressed in the manner of the Land of the Chin and was, on the outside, quite friendly and affable. However, beneath the front of civility a war was going on. In spite of arriving after Salduz, Lady Alexis soon had an excellent network set up spying on both Salduz and their hosts. To the delight of the Georgians, bribes were soon being paid by both sides to anyone who might help either party. Lord Castle's army was the center of bribery attempts by Salduz.


	20. Chapter 20

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

Huw of Llandovery who had been left in charge of the army knew that the vast majority of the officers and men of the army were loyal to their leader. He also knew that in any army as large as this, there would be some who would succumb to temptation. But, thanks to Lady Alexis he had a plan.

He called his officers together.

"Lady Alexis knows that these Mongols will try to bribe us, and she knows that many a man's head has been turned by gold. We here also know that Lady Alexis is keeping an eye on us from Tbilisi. A very wary eye. Now you all know Lady Alexis and her abilities as well as any. What do you think someone's chances are of taking a bribe and her not finding out about it? Not just finding out about it, but doing something about it? Something…fatal?"

The officers knew Alexis well. Some knew her very well, indeed. And they all knew what she was capable of doing to protect Lord and Lady Castle. Even for battle hardened soldiers, it wasn't something they wanted to think about.

Huw went on.

"So, I have a solution. Any man who accepts a bribe should report it to me and he'll be given half the bribe for himself and half will go to the army's coffers. The man should also tell who gave the bribe and what was expected in return. That should keep Lady Alexis happy. Do you agree?"

As Lady Alexis had told Huw, the officers readily agreed.

Huw and Brother Thomas, a young scribe for the army, sat in Huw's tent waiting for the nights bribed troops to come in. Brother Thomas had the large leather-bound ledger into which he wrote the details of the bribes. First in was Owen Glendower, the captain of a company of archers, who said that he was the illegitimate son of a Welsh prince.

"Two more of your men were bribed, Owen?" Huw asked.

"Aye. Jamie and Will here were both bribed at the Sword and Buckler tavern." The Georgians, seeing a chance to make money selling ale and food had set up numerous taverns and inns near the camp.

"I complained about having to stay here while Lord Castle was enjoying himself in the capitol. A wench named Alice gave me ten gold pieces to complain to the other men and arouse their feelings against Lord Castle."

Brother Thomas wrote that down and returned half the gold to Jamie.

"I received twelve gold pieces." Will said smugly." I said I had my eye on Lady Katherine and would stab her husband and ride off with her. I said I needed more money to buy two good horses."

"The name of the briber?"

Will shrugged. "He was a Persian, or so they said. I can't begin to pronounce his name."

"And how are you and Roxanne doing, Owen?" Huw asked.

"She's admitted she works for that bastard Salduz. She fancies me, I can tell. Since my Sarah died of the plague, I've needed a woman. She's suggested we make up a conspiracy with a few captains of archers. She thinks she could get a hundred gold pieces for that."

Next a short, shabby man entered, preceded by the smell of offal. He wore only a belted plaid, held up by a filthy piece of rope. Both man, plaid and rope appeared to have been rolling in horse manure, and probably had been. He dragged behind him his only weapon, a stout club pierced by a large rusty nail. He mumbled something in Scots Gaelic while knuckling his forelock and looking at his feet.

"Dear God. Are they so desperate that they've even bribed McAuslan?" Huw said in wonder.

McAuslan thrust his hand down the front of his plaid and withdrew two small silver coins and placed them on the table. Huw saw that something was crawling on the coins.

McCauslan spoke again.

"He wants to know if he has enough to buy a sword?" Brother Thomas translated.

"McAuslan wants to improve himself by becoming a swordsman? By all means. Brother Thomas, please tell him that Lord Castle so values his loyalty that he may keep both coins and I will write a note to the armorer to have him given a good sword."

Upon hearing this, McAuslan smiled, displaying an alarming lack of teeth, and returned the two coins to their previous place of refuge. Then accepting the note, he went off to get his sword.

"I do hope he won't injure himself with the sword." Brother Thomas said.

"I'm sure any sword we have will turn into a pillar of rust with one touch of McAuslan's hand."

Of course, Lord Castle and his entourage in Tbilisi were also the subject of attempts to damage their cause.

Castle was happy to return to his rooms in the palace. He had been talking with four Georgian generals about the long war between England and France and the tactics the English used to defeat the French. They had plied him with wine and he admitted to himself that he was a bit tipsy. But, at last he reached his bedroom and was prepared to get some sleep. He noticed Kate wasn't there and just as he began to look about for her, a beautiful naked woman rushed out of the shadows, knocking him onto the bed. She climbed on top of him and pushed one of her boobs into his mouth. Then, just as Amir Bayan Salduz had planned, Kate and Alexis returned to their quarters. What happened next was not as Salduz had planned.

"Oh, dear, Kate." Alexis said. "Another poor woman has been unable to resist your husband and attacked him."

Kate nodded. "I can't really blame them, Richard is simply irresistible. What woman could resist?"

"Certainly not the Spanish Baroness. She was unable to restrain herself. And right in front of King Pedro."

"Oh, the woman in Rome was far more embarrassing." Alexis said.

"The seventy-five year old nun? Shocking."

"I was thinking of the blonde contessa." Alexis said.

Kate took several steps toward the couple now writhing on the bed. "Is it just their position, or is her left breast larger than the right?"

Alexis joined her. "You may be right."

The woman had been told to expect screams of outrage, anger, harsh words, but not this.

Alexis slapped the woman's ass.

"Time to go. I'm afraid you've found what hundreds of women before you have found: There is no one that can take the place of Lady Katherine Castle in any way."

The woman sprang to her feet and ran.

The two women laughed as she ran. Castle sat up, red faced, and looked at them.

"Do you think this is funny?"

Kate managed to stop laughing.

"I do, my love. Alexis found out about this attempt by Salduz to drive a wedge between us. We decided that it would be best to show them that women who couldn't resist Lord Richard Castle were legion."

"You could have told me."

"I'm so very sorry." Alexis said, now that she too had stopped laughing. "We felt your reaction wouldn't be authentic if you knew before hand what would happen."

Castle was sure that Alexis was not at all sorry.

Kate sat down on the bed by her husband. "But soon another beautiful woman will throw herself at you. I'm sure I'll be able to make things up to you."

"She'd better." Castle muttered.

Jock Tait had a somewhat similar experience. He came back to his rooms to find a beautiful, naked woman sprawled on his bed. Next to her was a large bag of gold coins. Tait knew exactly what to do and spent the entire night pleasuring the young woman. Yes, the entire night. Jock's stamina in all things was legendary along the Scots-English border, in France and with Castle's army.

At dawn he told the woman to go.

"I believe that my time with you has brought your abilities in bed up to the level of a highland crofter's daughter, which I assume was the purpose for you coming here. And I assume that the gold was my payment for your education in matters carnal. Should you have more gold, I'll be pleased to turn you into a fair approximation of a lowland tavern wench, although your abilities in bed might not stretch that far, you not being a Scot."

The woman left angrily and Salduz was left wondering just what a highland crofter was.

Things did not always go so peaceably. Lady Alexis was walking through an empty corridor in the palace when two large, well-muscled men stepped out of an alcove ahead of her. A quick glance told Alexis that the door behind her was closed and, she assumed, now barred.

Assuming a look of sheer terror, she raised her hands, "accidentally" causing the top of her gown to open, freeing her breasts.

"Oh, please don't hurt me." She quavered.

The two men traded glances and smiled. They had been told to kill her, but there seemed to be no point in rushing things. That was their mistake.

As the two men looked at each other, Alexis took a lead bullet from her sash and threw it at the nearest man. The inch wide bullet hit the man in the side of his head. He dropped at once. Alexis drew a dagger with a foot long blade from the folds of her skirt and slashed at the second man. He parried the blow and Alexis drew back, now yelling for help. Realizing he had to finish the job quickly, the man rushed Alexis who slid to one side and slashed the man along his ribcage. He staggered back allowing Alexis to stab him in the side. He threw himself at her and she drove her blade into his heart. He fell at her feet, dead.

Alexis tried to rouse the other man to interrogate him before any Georgian guards appeared, but it was no use. When Father Ryan eventually arrived, he found that the man had hit the back of his head when he fell, fracturing his skull. After three days of unconsciousness, the man died.

Two days after that Alexis entered the Castle's quarters just as the servants were clearing away the remains of breakfast.

"We must leave at once." She announced. "Amir Bayan Salduz is just now leaving to join the army that Timur is sending here."

"Do we know how far away his army is?" Castle asked, rising and mentally going over the things he needed to do to leave.

"I have received no word of that, but it must be close if Salduz is leaving now."

"It'll take us four days to get back to our army."

Alexis shook her head.

"It took us four days because we were slowed by the wagons that carried our supplies. The Georgians will provide us with relays of horses every ten miles. We can be at the army in a little more than a day."

"That many horses for us and our knights?" Castle asked. "That would require every horse in Georgia."

"No. They can provide horses for us and for twenty knights. The other knights will have to follow more slowly with the servants and wagons last."

"An escort of only twenty knights? They could attack us, so perhaps Kate could…"

"No." Kate said firmly. "As always, my place is by your side."

"And," Alexis added, "I'm sure the Georgians don't want to kill us openly, or allow Salduz to do so. They've told Salduz that if he attacks and defeats our army, they'll allow him to pass through another mountain pass to attack the Sultan's forces in the rear."

"So the Georgians have thrown in their lot with the Timurids?"


	21. Chapter 21

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

Alexis smiled. "No. Actually, what they're doing is quite intelligent. If Salduz defeats us, they won't have to worry about us attacking them on behalf of the Sultan and they can explain to the Sultan, if explanations are necessary, that when our large, powerful army was defeated, they had no choice but to grant Salduz safe passage. If we defeat Salduz, they don't have to worry about a Timurid invasion, and if we do try to invade, we'll have been weakened. The best outcome from their point of view would be if both armies fought to a bloody standstill and neither was strong enough to threaten anyone."

"That's a rather cold blooded way to handle things." Castle said.

Alexis smiled. "Isn't it though? It's just the sort of thing I'd do."

They quickly made ready and within an hour were ready to leave. Castle stopped briefly to speak with Tamar. Both mouthed meaningless platitudes.

Thirty hours later, Castle, Kate, Alexis, Urus Khan and Jock Tait with seventeen knights arrived at their army. The other three knights who had started with them had had their horses lamed or otherwise injured and had to follow more slowly.

"Lord Castle, "Huw of Llandovery said, "I hadn't expected you so soon."

"I've been in the saddle for thirty hours. Where is the enemy?"

"Urus Khan's scouts have found them some two days ride from here. They report the army is all mounted and number some forty thousand men. There appear to be no other forces near us, neither Timurid or Georgian, except for the Georgian garrison on the wall behind us."

"Do they appear to be friendly?"

Huw nodded. "They haven't interfered with the markets that were set up, although most of them left when news of the enemy's arrival spread. We do have fletchers and blacksmiths still working here to make more arrows."

"What of the defenses?"

Huw smiled wolfishly. "Come. I think you will approve of what we've done."

Castle found that a trench had been dug all across the front of his army. The spoil from the trench had been piled up so as to form a barrier that his troops could fight from behind while the open trench was to the enemy's side. They would need to drop into the trench as it was too wide for even the nimblest man to jump across. In front of the trench were thousands upon thousands of sharpened stakes driven deeply into the ground, the points facing the enemy. Also present were abatises, trees with their branches trimmed and sharpened providing another obstacle for the enemy. Unseen, due to being covered by grass, were thousands of holes to trap the foot of man or horse.

"I have reorganized the army, My Lord." Huw said. "In France, we place our knights and nobles in the center, knowing that the French will attack them, deeming low born archers not worthy of attacking. The Timurids won't do that, I believe. Accordingly, I have mixed companies of dismounted men at arms, crossbowmen, bowmen and light infantry arrayed in the trenches. The cavalry I have kept as a reserve."

"Well thought out, Huw." Castle said.

"I also have men in the mountains. The locals have shown us every path in the mountains although most are too narrow for any but a goat to use. But a dozen men can stand off an army at any one of them."

"Very good, Huw. I think we'll see Amir Bayan Salduz's army off with no problems."

Lord Castle announced that he was going to bed to get some sleep and have orders that he be wakened if anything happened. However, when he woke, all was peaceful.

Two days passed before Salduz's army began arriving. First were a small number of scouts who skirmished with Urus Khan's troops. A day later, the main body of the enemy's army arrived. Salduz sent small parties of troops into the mountains, but found every path blocked. For another day or two, the enemy carefully probed Castle's defenses.

Finally, Salduz brought his whole army to just out of bowshot from the defenses. Then huge drums, carried by two-humped dromedaries, began to beat. However, the whole army didn't charge. The lines opened and a force of some thousand riders galloped towards Castle's army.

"What are they doing?" Jock Tait asked. "And what are they wearing?"

"Quilted armor." Castle answered, suddenly grasping the enemy's tactics. "They have thick, padded cloth armor over coats of mail and helmets. They and their horses are heavily armored with cloth armor."

When in range, Castle ordered his archers and crossbowmen to open fire. They found that arrows and bolts would penetrate only so far. But the closer the enemy rode, the more their armor was penetrated. But it might take five or six arrows or bolts to finally penetrate and kill a rider, or his horse. When they arrived at the stakes the Timurids threw themselves off of their horses and began using axes to chop away at the stakes and any abatis they came to.

There were far more archers and crossbowmen than enemy riders, and soon they were all cut down. But damage had been done to the defenses.

Before the last man had been cut down, the drums beat again and another thousand riders headed towards the defenses. This time Castle's troops didn't bother firing until the enemy was within a hundred yards. At closer range, more missiles punched through the armor of their foes, but many stakes had been chopped away before the last axeman fell.

"Do we have enough arrows?" Castle asked Huw.

"More than enough, Lord Castle. We have forty times as many arrows as Salduz has men. And even if they get past the stakes, they still have to cross our trench and then they have to face our men hand to hand."

Castle hoped he was right.

A third wave of a thousand rode forth and was shot down, and then a fourth and then a fifth. For the loss of five thousand men, Salduz had cleared a path halfway through Castle's defenses. By then darkness was approaching and Salduz's army rode away for the night.

"Do we have more stakes, Huw?"

"A few, Lord Castle. A few."

"When it's dark, send men out to plant new ones and repair any damaged stakes they can."

Just after dawn on the next day, two men rode out from the enemy lines. One was mounted on a warhorse, was well armed and armored while the other rode a small pony and had neither arms nor armor. The unarmed man spoke loudly in Italian.

"This is Okin Khasar, the finest warrior in all of the world. When we conquered the Sultanate of Delhi, five of the bravest and finest warriors in all of the land of the Hind attacked him. He slew all five. Once, while travelling in Tibet his horse died of the cold and when all alone and on foot, he was attacked by seven Tibetan cataphracts. When the battle was over, he had seven horses."

As the man went on, Old Cadoc, a Welsh archer who had served in the armies of England for over twenty years listened without understanding a word. He did think that someone was bragging. He turned to Luigi Cadorna, a crossbowman from Milan and asked him what the fellow was saying.

"The little fellow is bragging about how good a fighter the other one is. Apparently, he's killed many men."

Cadoc looked Okin Khasar over.

"He looks like one of those damned Frenchies, all covered in armor, him and his horse. Bloody useless gits. We sent them packing a hundred times."

Khasar's translator got to the heart of the matter.

"Lord Okin now challenges any three of your knights to meet him in combat here and now. And when he has defeated the first three, he'll defeat another three and another three and another until you run out of knights."

"What did he say?" Cadoc demanded and Luigi translated.

As groups of knights were trying to divide up into threes, Cadoc spat.

"He must be bloody French."

He hefted his warbow, which had a draw weight of 180 pounds. Although called Old Cadoc he was stronger than most men half his age. Years of drawing a bow had given him massive shoulders and arms. He also had a device that he had picked up from the horse archers he'd met called an arrow guide. It was simply a half tube that attached to the bow onto which you could rest an arrow that was much shorter and lighter than average, thus going farther and faster than a regular weight arrow.

Cadoc took a small arrow from his belt, gauged the wind, which was coming from directly behind him, then estimated the distance. In one quick movement he raised his bow, pulled the bow string back to his ear and loosed the arrow.

The arrow entered the vision slit in Okin's helmet, pierced his left eye and entered his brain. He fell from his horse, dead.

There was a long moment of silence, then pandemonium. Castle's knights were furious that they'd been denied a chance to show off their skill and courage. The Mongols were furious that their champion had been killed without a chance to fight.

"Who loosed that arrow?" Castle yelled.

Cadoc raised his hand. "T'was I, Lord Castle."

"Why did you shoot?"

"According to what my friend Luigi told me of his speech, the man wanted to fight us. I've always been ready to shoot down those armored fellows on horses."

"I think they wanted you to go out there and fight him."

Cadoc though for a second.

"What, walk all the way out there just to kill a fellow? I'm too old for that."

All of the archers and crossbowmen laughed and many of the knights did as well.

Okin Khasar's body was born back to the Timurid lines.

There was a delay, but another group of a thousand riders came towards Castle's army.

"My God!" Cried Huw. "Look! They can hardly stay on their horses."

It was true. The riders had been wrapped in so much cloth armor, it was difficult for them to stay on their horses and some did fall off. Those who remained on horseback had to ride slowly forward. Missiles rained down on them with little effect. They began chopping at the stakes and abatises with axes.

"Their padded armor looks to be a foot thick." Huw said. "Even if our arrows penetrate the cloth, it won't have the force to punch through the chain mail beneath it."

"But they are quite clumsy, aren't they?" Castle said. "I'll lead our dismounted knights and men at arms out to fight them. A good blow to the head will stun them and we can knock them to the ground. Then we can slash away at them."

Castle began to dismount, but Jock Tait took his arm.

"Lord Castle, your job is to command the army. This is a job for me."

Castle was starting to argue when he felt another arm grab him. It was Kate.

"As I have always said, my love, where you go, I go."

"Kate…."He began, but she wrapped both arms around him. In the meantime, Jock hefted a six-foot long battleax. It had a wide crescent blade on one side and a two-foot long spike at the other. He ran to the dismounted knights and began to give orders.

"How will they get across the ditch?" Castle yelled. "No man in full armor can leap across it and it's too deep for them to clamber out of."


	22. Chapter 22

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

Lady Alexis appeared at their side.

"Huw of Llandovery is quite smart. He thought this part up with no help from me."

Castle watched as several wagons approached and unloaded long, thick planks that provided a bridge across the trench. Jock and his men poured across. Following their leader's orders, the men slashed at their enemy's heads until they fell senseless to the ground, then dispatched the helpless men as best they could.

Jock's own weapon was particularly useful. He first battered his enemy's helmeted head with the ax blade and when his foe fell, he used his great strength to drive the spike through armor and penetrate deeply into the fallen man.

Once the enemy began running, Jock called his men back. He knew better than to present his mounted enemies with men on foot.

"Well done, Jock. Well done, indeed" Castle said.

"Ah, but the archers have been having too much fun these past months." Jock laughed. "Time for me and my men to enjoy themselves."

It took more than an hour for the next wave of riders to appear. This time they were not overloaded with cloth armor, however, a giant of a man was leading them. He stood a good half a foot taller than Lord Castle and was totally covered with well- made and very thick plate armor. Even at close range, arrows and crossbow bolts bounced off of him. Castle had to command his troops to fire at the other enemy troops as too many of his men were trying to take the giant down. The giant continued to use a gigantic axe to chop easily through the stakes and even the thickest abatis.

Suddenly, a single figure ran from Castle's lines towards the giant who had gotten further ahead of the rest of his men. From his dark complexion the men first thought it must be someone from Urus Khan's troops, but then they saw he wore a very dirty and disgraceful plaid and knew it could only be McAuslan, whose body was covered with its usual layer of filth.

He came at the giant from the side, and either the giant didn't see him, or ignored such a seemingly weak foe, for McAuslan was armed only with his club still transfixed with a large, rusty nail. As the giant lifted his axe high over his head, McAuslan swung at his head, overbalancing him and causing him to fall. As the giant tried to rise, McAuslan swung at the soles of his feet, correctly finding that while the giant was covered from head to foot in plate armor, the soles of his feet were covered only in leather shoes. He hit each foot three or four times, then with the approach of the giant's men, ran for the safety of his own lines. The army cheered.

"Who was that?" Castle asked Huw.

"McAuslan, a Scots Highlander, and the filthiest man in all of Christendom."

"He should be given better weapons."

Huw shook his head. "We gave him a sword and he broke it within an hour. He can be a mite clumsy. And stupid."

"Perhaps some gold?"

"He'll spend it on drink."

Castle sighed. "Give him beer and ale then, once this is over."

The next wave of attackers was different. Again, a thousand heavily armored men rode to Castle's defenses and began chopping away with their axes. However, this time a thousand horse archers rode out and fired at Castle's men. Since his troops had to split their fire between two groups, the axmen were able to do far more damage to the defenses. It seemed that the Timurids had finally found a solution to the problem.

"We have no more stakes?" Castle asked Huw.

"No. And no way of getting more. We've cut down all of the trees here. And it appears that the Georgians have shut the gate in the wall, so we won't get any wood from beyond the wall."

Castle and Huw watched as yet another mass of riders, covered by horse archers, tore into the defenses.

When the sun began to set, a wide strip had been cut through the defenses, going almost three quarters of the way to Castle's troops.

"By this time tomorrow, they'll have cut a wide enough swath through our defenses to charge us, Lord Castle."

He nodded. "We've killed a lot of them and in a hand to hand fight our men are better prepared. Better armed, better armored, better trained. Those men are almost all horse archers. They'll not have fought well armored men on foot before."

"Look." Said Lady Kate. "The gate of the Georgian's wall is opening. What's coming through?"

Castle laughed bitterly. "It's Alexis' wagons. Come just in time to bring our gold plates and goblets for the enemy to use should we lose."

"Really, Lord Castle." Said Alexis, riding up to him. "Do you have so little faith in me? As soon as I saw what was happening, I asked the Georgian's if I might hire some people to chop firewood for us. At the wages I was offering, many, many Georgians came out to chop firewood."

"That's firewood?" Castle said, as wagon after wagon loaded with wood came through the gate.

Alexis shrugged. "I suppose you could pound it into the ground if you so desired. You'd have to be careful of the sharp points on one end, though."

"And how did you get the Georgian's to allow this "firewood" though the wall?"

"The commander of the wall is a man, you know."

Castle laughed.

"Kate, how would you feel about really having an adopted daughter?"

"Alexis is already as close to me as a sister or a daughter."

Castle waited until the sun was down before sending his men out to pound more stakes into the ground before his position. When the sun rose the next day, the defenses had been almost completely repaired with the new stakes. When the next group of horsemen appeared and seemed ready to charge, they stopped. Castle saw a well dressed man he recognized as Amir Bayan Salduz arrive and ride out a bit from his massed troops, but still staying well out of bowshot. Castle laughed as the Timurid commander appeared to curse and then ride back to his troops. There was a brief discussion and then all of the horsemen disappeared.

There was no attack that day, so Lord Castle sent more men out to pound in the last of the stakes.

"There's another defense out there, My Lord." Huw of Llandovery said after he came in from supervising the work. "The ground is carpeted with dead men and dead horses. The stench won't stop anyone, but they rotting corpses of man and beast will give poor footing to anyone approaching us. Horses and men will fall."

"And we'll make sure none get up again."

Just after dawn of the next day, they heard the drums beating. Whatever Salduz had in mind for today, it looked like he was going to start early.

Castle watched as the Timurid army rode out, spreading into a long line that went completely across the valley. For long moments they sat there on horseback, not moving.

"Let us hope they charge us like that." Castle said. "They won't bring overwhelming force to any part of our line. We should be able to hold them."

The drums beat again and the long line of cavalrymen began to move forward, first at a walk, then a trot, a canter and finally at a full gallop. But, as they approached the line of stakes, half the men threw themselves off of their horses and attacked on foot. The rest began firing arrows at the English army.

Castle allowed himself a small smile. The enemy horse archers had to shoot at longbowmen and crossbowmen that were protected by the spoil from the ditch and the many pavises that Huw had set up, but had no protection themselves. The men now attacking on foot had some armor, but at close range, the arrows and bolts were doing fearful damage. The only thing that worried Castle was that he noticed that Salduz had kept back his heavily armored cavalry as a reserve. If the enemy could clear a path through the stakes, their heavy cavalry could smash through his line and roll up his army from the flanks.

He had his own reserves, however, his own mounted heavy cavalry. On two occasions it appeared that the more numerous Timurids would break through his lines. Castle sent small groups of a hundred or so dismounted men to shore up his lines.

Lord Castle rode from one end of his line to the other, looking for places where his defenses needed help, shouting encouragement to his men and keeping a wary eye on the enemy's reserve. Once, an enemy horse archer rode through Castle's lines completely untouched and headed for Castle. The man slashed as Castle with his saber, but the blade bounced off his steel breastplate. Castle skewered the man and he fell from his horse.

Then, the enemy began retreating and was soon gone. Castle had thought that the battle had taken very little time, but was surprised to see that the sun was almost straight overhead.

He began giving orders.

"Get the wounded to Father Ryan and his assistants. "He barked, riding down his lines.

When he got to Huw of Llandovery, he told Huw to see to it that food and drink were distributed to the remaining men as soon as possible. The battle had been a hot affair in more than one way.

For over an hour the enemy made no move. But when they did, Castle groaned inwardly. Salduz had lined his men up in a vast column, a hundred riders across and who knew how many riders deep.

"I can't see the end of the enemy column, Lord Castle." Jock Tait said.

"Nor I." was Castle's grim reply. "But he's keeping his heavy cavalry off to one side. If his horse archers break through, he'll send in his heavies. In spite of all of their deaths, they still outnumber us."

"Then we'd best see that they don't break through. I'll command the reserve, Jock. You command the center. It looks like Salduz is going to strike there."

Tait nodded, put on his helmet and rode away,

Castle sat with his mounted knights and men at arms and waited as the enemy's drums began to beat. The horsemen began to walk their horses, then slowly but very surely, they increased their pace until they were charging at a gallop. They tried to ride between the stakes and many did, but more horses crashed into the stakes, impaling themselves and throwing their riders to be crushed by the horses behind them. But the weight of numbers began to tell and small groups of the enemy made it to the trench and leapt their horses over it, landing amid Castle's troops.

Castle watched as both Jock Tait and Huw fed small groups of men into whatever part of the line was most threatened. But for all they did, the center of Castle's defense line was starting to bow backwards and enemy horsemen were starting to break through, although in small numbers. Then he heard the drums again and saw the mass of the enemy's heavy cavalry start to charge.

He gathered his own heavy cavalry about him and told them to get ready.

"When their heavy cavalry tries to ride over our infantry, we'll charge. With any luck, they'll have slowed down to pass what stakes are left and to fight our infantry. "He raised his voice as loud as he could. "For England, Istria and Saint Katherine!"

"For England, Istria and Saint Katherine!" His men yelled back.


	23. Chapter 23

UCSBdad

Disclaimer: We are but warriors for the working-day; Our gayness and our gilt are all besmirch'd With rainy marching in the painful field; There's not a piece of feather in our host- Good argument, I hope, we will not fly- And time hath worn us into slovenry: But, by the mass, our hearts are in the trim. However, I don't own Castle.:. Rating: K, mostly. Time: See below.

He was at the forefront of the charge and knocked an enemy horse archer off his mount and slashed at others as he rode past. Then he saw the first of the Timurid heavies coming toward him. He slashed at one as they passed each other, neither man damaging the other. Ahead of him were two enemy cavalrymen who had somehow gotten their horses entangled. They were both too busy trying to separate themselves to see him and by the time they did, it was too late. Both men died without quite knowing what was happening.

A loose, riderless horse, its eyes wide with terror, slammed into his own horse, causing it to drop to its front knees. As he struggled to get the horse upright, he saw an enemy headed right for him. Not just any enemy, but Amir Bayan Salduz himself. Castle struggled to both get his horse on its feet and prepare to defend himself.

He heard a familiar roar and saw smoke and fire shoot past him. Salduz's helmet was snapped back and he reeled in the saddle. His horse turned away of its own accord, and Salduz was quickly lost in the mass of struggling horsemen.

Kate was beside him, her smoking gonne in her hand.

"Are you all right?" She yelled over the noise of battle.

"I will be as soon as you leave. This is no place for a lady."

"My place is with you."

"Your place is with me where there is no danger." Lady Alexis said, grabbing the reins of Kate's horse and leading her quickly away.

Before he could make sure she was well away from the fight, he was charged again. He traded blows with the man until a crossbow bolt slammed into the eye of the other man's horse and they both collapsed in a heap.

Later, when he thought about it, he really had no idea how long the fight had lasted or what had happened. He only remembered odd and disjointed bits of what had happened. He recalled slashing at the head of a horse archer and watching the man dodge each blow. He had no idea what had happened to the man. He recalled an enemy heavy cavalryman riding slowly through the fight. He was ready to attack the man when he saw that his enemy was transfixed with arrows and bolts, including an arrow through this thigh and into his horse which kept his dead body from falling off. One of his own cavalrymen had ridden up to him and shouted at him. Castle knew he had answered the man, but afterwards he had no idea who the man was, what he had said or how he had replied.

Suddenly, there were no enemies in front of him. He looked about and could see only his own men. He carefully took off his helmet to get a better look. The Timurids were indeed gone.

"My Lord." croaked a familiar sounding voice.

Turning, he found Jock Tait slowly riding to him, his arm in a sling.

"What happened to your arm?"

"Broken. One of them had a mace. I had Father Ryan set it. It'll be fine"

"Have they really gone?" He asked, not quite believing it.

"They have, Lord Castle. It's near to sundown though. And when they come back tomorrow, we'll be in trouble. Many stakes are ripped out and we have many dead and wounded. The enemy's dead cover too many of the remaining stakes and the trench is filled in with the dead, ours as well as theirs. Things will not go well for us on the morn."

"We'll worry about the morn when it comes. We need to see to the wounded and provide food and drink for the living. Then we'll see what we can do about our defenses."

It took hours for everything to be done and Castle was everywhere trying to prepare his battered army for tomorrows battle. Suddenly a gentle hand was laid on his arm.

"Come, my love. It grows late and you must rest for the morrow." Kate was no longer dressed in her armor, but in a dress that looked like something Alexis would wear. He allowed himself to be led back to their tent where food and drink awaited. Then off to bed, a brief round of lovemaking and then sleep.

It was still dark when he rose. He wanted to let Kate sleep, but she heard him preparing for battle and rose.

"Is there any way I can convince you to leave? You could go into the mountains and be safe."

Kate's smile lit up her face. "If I had wanted nothing but safety, I would never have married you. Now, help me dress in my armor."

He sighed and did as she asked.

It was still dark when Castle arrived at the front lines of his now shrunken army. Soon, the sun rose. There were no drums beating and no sign of the enemy.

"They lost a lot of dead and wounded yesterday as well." Huw said. "Perhaps they won't attack until tomorrow."

"They must know that we lost many as well and started with fewer men than they." Jock replied.

The Walloon knight, Henri de Brienne, renowned for his excellent vision, rode to Castle.

"My Lord, I can see a plume of dust to the east, as if a large body of horse was riding in that direction."

All the soldiers began looking to the east and soon it was apparent that a large cloud of dust was indeed heading east.

"Could they be retreating?" Castle asked.

"I'll send my scouts out." Urus Khan muttered and soon several bands of his men rode out.

In an hour the first party rode back in and headed directly to Urus, Castle and the rest of the officers. One man began yelling excitedly to Urus. Urus turned to Castle with a huge smile on his face.

"This man says his party rode through their entire camp. He found dead bodies of men and horses, smashed tents, weapons and not one living thing. He found a small hill and from its top he could see the Timurids heading east. I'll send out more scouts to follow them and make sure they keep going."

For the rest of the day, scouts came in regularly to report the enemy was headed slowly east.

The next day the gate in the Georgian wall opened and a troop of soldiers brought Prince David to see Castle.

"Lord Castle," he said without any diplomatic preamble, "Amir Bayan Salduz has advised is that he is returning to his lord. He will not be attacking Turkey through Georgia. It seems your army was too much for him. We, of course, salute you for your defeat of our common enemy."

"Our pleasure." Castle said being diplomatic enough not to mention that the Timurids had not become their common enemy until after they had been defeated.

"We know that you must long to return to your own country, so we have sent a fast ship to the Crimea to summon your transports." Castle mentally translated this as "_You've beaten an enemy we feared, now get the hell out of here." _

"Thank you, but my men need food and drink. Could you reestablish the markets that were here? And many of my men are sick or wounded. They overwhelm our few doctors. Could you provide some?"

"Of course. Of course. We will do everything in our power to help you on your way."

He was sure they would.

It took over a week, but the sick and wounded either died or got well enough to travel in wagons to the seacoast to the north of them. They arrived at a small port north of Georgia where the ships were supposed to meet them.

Urus Khan left them there.

"By God, Lord Castle. It has been quite an adventure serving with a Christian army. The tales that men will tell around their fires about us will last for a thousand years. I'm minded to take a Christian wife or concubine so that I might have Christian children, just to see if they would be like you and your English men."

"You might need an English wife for that and I fear we have none to spare." Castle said with a smile.

"I am desolate." Urus said, not looking a bit desolate. "But I must leave you here. One of my enemies fled far from me and now I find that they and their herds are only three days ride from here. They need to learn that one cannot run far enough to escape the reach of Urus Khan."

The two men shook hands and Urus and his men rode off.

The ships arrived several days later and loaded Castle's army. First, they sailed to the Crimea where the surviving Genoese crossbowmen were returned. They sailed past Constantinople without stopping. But once in the Aegean Sea, they were approached by a large Ottoman Turkish fleet. Almost as soon as they'd sighted the other fleet, a small, fast Liburnian set out from the Turks. Soon they could see Hamid waving happily at them.

"Lord Castle! Lady Katherine! Lady Alexis!" He boomed as soon as his feet hit the deck. "Rumors of your great victory arrived only hours before the couriers from Lady Alexis arrived with confirmation and greater details. Congratulations, my friend, congratulations. You have done well."

"And the Sultan?" Castle asked. "Did Tamerlane also attack through Persia?"

"He did indeed and we defeated him. Regrettably, we did not destroy his army, but we sent him away. I thank God that Timur did not concentrate his forces against just one of us or there would have been a much different outcome."

"So all is well?" Asked Alexis.

Hamid frowned. "Timur's two armies were damaged, and our spies say he has troubles with the Land of the Chin, so he will be back. But not for a while. In the meantime, we have something for our friends in Europe." He called to the men in his ship in Turkish and they began bringing aboard small but heavy boxes.

"We have gold for the Venetians. Not that much, but enough to bribe them to stay friendly with both Istria and Turkey. We have gold for Duke Rodrigo so that Istria can keep a strong army and navy in case we need allies again. And I think we may. Lastly, my friend, gold for you so that you my keep your own army intact and well trained and equipped."

Hamid reached into his pocket and drew out something.

"Lastly, the Sultan has decided to make you an Ottoman noble. You are now Castle Pasha, a commander of an army. This bauble will tell the world of your new status."

The "bauble" was a large pin encrusted with diamonds.

Then Hamid scowled. "Is there no food and drink for your friend who has come so far to greet you?"

There was, of course.

The fleet stopped in Greece at the County of Larissos. They found that under the rule of Countess Aurelia the county had prospered. There were many fishing boats in the harbor and several merchantmen were there to take on food and water. They were greeted by Countess Aurelia and as they rode to her castle, the peasants waved and bowed as they worked in the fields.

At the castle they met Nicolo of Taranto, the mercenary that Lady Alexis had asked to come to help Aurelia. He had turned the Countess' armed peasants into a formidable little army when combined with his own men. From the looks Nicolo and Aurelia gave each other, they all thought a wedding might be in the future for them.

At last, weary and travel worn, they arrived back in Pola and were soon back in their villa. There they found they had a visitor.

"Father Michael." Castle said. "I am surprised to see you here. Why have you come all the way from England?"

"My son, I have sad news for you. Your family has died of the plague. Your parents, brothers, their wives and children are all gone. You now own all of your ancestral lands."

Castle sat heavily. "I'm shocked to hear that. However, I have a life in Italy now. I'll arrange for someone to manage the estate, but I will remain here."

Father Michael shook his head. "That's not possible, Richard. I have a letter here from King Edward III. He has ordered you to return to England at once."

The End

For now.

**Author's note: I do like to use actual historical people in my stories. Timur the Lame, or Tamerlane as he was known in the West, claimed to be a descendant of Genghis Khan and did rule a vast empire. Moreover, he defeated the Sultan of the Ottoman Turks, but that was not until 1402, when Lord and Lady Castle were retired and spoiling their grandchildren. **

**Urus Khan did exist and did fight Tamerlane, but little is known about him.**

**Tamar of Georgia was beautiful, intelligent and was called the King, (Mepe) rather than the Queen of Georgia. However, she was long dead by the time Castle arrived on the scene. **

**Michael V Palaiologis was the Emperor of what was left of the Byzantine Empire when Castle passed through his capitol.**

**The Fourth Crusade did get sidetracked into conquering the Christian city of Constantinople and never got near the Holy Land. The Pope was not amused.**

**Ibn Battuta was a renowned Muslim traveler who traveled most of the then known world, from Spain to China. In 1354 he wrote a book about his travels. **

**Some of you may recognize the Highlander McAuslan as the fictional ancestor of the equally fictional Private John McAuslan, the dirtiest soldier in the British army, from George MacDonald Fraser's books. **

**For the rest, they are totally fictional.**

**Next up is After Flowers for Your Grave, a short one.**


End file.
